New Threats Riseth
by Dax Jendo
Summary: It is about twenty years after the aversion of the Vong's attack on the galaxy, but things are not peaceful. The Vong still plague the galaxy, and the next generation of Jedi are slowly learning what it means to be a Jedi.
1. Dramatis Personae

DISCLAIMER: K I really respect Mr. Lucas, therefore I claim no ownership of Star Wars or any of it's characters, worlds, etc.

Star Wars: Post Vong Era

New Threats Riseth

**Dramatis Personae**

Jaina Solo Durron: Jedi Master (female human)

Kyp Durron: Jedi Master (male human)

Tahiri Veila: Jedi Knight (female human)

Denz Solo: Jedi Student (male human)

Zeek Solo: Jedi Student (male human)

Cordell Durron: Jedi Student (male human)

Jyo Durron: Jedi Student (male human)

Luke Skywalker: Jedi Master (male human)

Mara Jade Skywalker: Jedi Master (female human)

Jake Microx: Jedi Pilot (male human)

Ben Skywalker: Jedi Knight (male human)

Lowbacca: Jedi Knight (male Wookie)

M-TD: assistant to Lowbacca (protocol droid)

Todan Ems: Jedi Student (male human)

Salah Jem: Jedi Student (female human)

dedicated to my cousins

Joey and Zachary,

Star Wars fans forever


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

In space near Kessel, there is the Maw. The Maw is a cluster of black holes with a small amount of space directly in the center where a space station had been built. This space station's usefulness was coming to an end. Here was where many Jedi Students had hidden during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. But now that peace had been restored the young Jedi were being moved to a place with easier access, for there were only a few safe paths through the Maw. Even going a little off course would get you sucked into a black hole. Although Jedi could use the Force to guide their way through, it was just another hassle. Thus, all the Jedi Students, teachers, and even the maintenance personnel were being escorted out in several ships piloted by Jedi. The Maw Installation would be completely abandoned.

On one of these ships, a group of Jedi Students sat huddled together, talking excitedly. The four had spent most of their lives together on the Maw Installation, and the prospect of finally going somewhere new thrilled them.

Of the four there was Denz, the eldest son of Jacen and Tenel-Ka Solo. At age 17, with blonde streaks in his brown hair, he was the oldest of the group. As strong in the Force as Jacen was at his age, his special Force ability was surprisingly nothing like Jacen's. Jacen had always connected with nature like no other Jedi could, but Denz had always been more of an electronics whiz. If it took some sort of power to run, Denz could figure out how it worked, fix it, or build a replica. When it came time to construct his lightsaber, you can bet that he will add some "custom" parts.

At age 16, Jyo Durron was the second oldest and tallest of the four. He was the first son of Kyp and Jaina Durron. He had straight, brown hair that you almost never saw even slightly messy; and because he had complained that his glasses broke his concentration when using the Force because they kept sliding down his nose, Denz had constructed special bifocals that suctioned right to his eyes. Of course they not only acted as a normal pair of glasses, but they also had infrared and night vision. Although Denz was the technical genius, Jyo had a quite useful Force talent. He was famous on the Installation for his problem-solving ability. Whether it is an equation or figuring out the best way to do something, Jyo always had a plan. When he got his lightsaber, he undoubtedly would try to make up a sequence of steps and moves, for which the others would pick him on, saying that using a lightsaber was pure instinct.

Next was Cordell, Jyo's brother, who was only half a head shorter and a year younger than Jyo. He had brown eyes and blonde hair that almost looked white. He was the most athletic of the four, and when it came time for him to wield a lightsaber himself, he was expected to be the next Anakin Solo.

Finally, there was Zeek, Denz's younger brother. He was the youngest, age 13, and the shortest of the group. His Force talent was similar to Cordell's, but instead of being really athletic physically, he was extremely Force athletic. It was much easier for him to move things with the Force than all the others in the Jedi Academy. He was even already able to lift an X-Wing without breaking a sweat.

They called themselves the "Cousin Crew." They did almost everything together, including share their excitement.

"I can't wait till we get to the Core!" Zeek exclaimed. "Do you really think Master Skywalker meant it when he said our first test when we got there was to build our own lightsabers?"

Jyo spoke for everyone when he replied, "I hope so!"

Suddenly aware of someone coming up behind them, they all said at once, "Hello, Tahiri."

Behind them Tahiri smiled, her green eyes twinkled with amusement. "You guessed it," she replied with a smile. Tahiri was the teacher of the four young Jedi as well as the other sixteen students in their group. She was an average height female human with curly blond hair that never seemed to be brushed in any particular direction. She was usually seen in her bright orange jumpsuit instead of the traditional Jedi robes, which most Jedi Knights wore. Tahiri had been raised on Tatooine by a group of Tusken Raiders (sand people). After living many years of her life on such a dry and harsh planet, always bundled from head to toe in cloth as protection from the sand, Tahiri had found it to be quite a pleasant feeling to be able to go barefoot wherever she could. Thus, from the moment she had joined the Jedi she had insisted on not wearing any shoes unless it was completely necessary. She had also been captured by the Vong near the beginning of the war, and experimented on. Anakin Solo, who had been her best friend since childhood, had rescued Tahiri from the Vong. When he perished on Myrkyr, it was a great blow to Tahiri, and for many years she mourned his loss, but when she was given a teaching position at the Academy, she seemed to cheer up. Tahiri was famous for her stories of the adventures she and Anakin had shared.

Denz and the others turned around to see her customary bare feet, looked up, and smiled.

"Do I detect a hint of excitement?" she teased.

Zeek blushed, "You know we've been waiting forever to make our own lightsabers."

"And why is that do you suppose?"

"Well," Cordell said assuredly, "the lightsaber is the greatest weapon of a Jedi. It's legendary!"

"It may be legendary as the weapon of the Jedi, but it is not the Jedi's greatest weapon," she lectured. "So what is the Jedi's greatest weapon?"

"The Jedi's greatest weapon is ... his ability to solve a matter without any unnecessary violence?" Denz answered a little uncertainly.

"Correct, Denz. A Jedi is not a warrior by nature. He is the keeper of the peace, a protector of those who cannot protect themselves. A Jedi is made a warrior by situations that cannot be handled nonviolently. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Tahiri," they all recited at once.

"Good. Now about this lightsaber business..." she started to say.

Suddenly, the ship's alarms started to go off, and a second later the cruiser was rocked with an explosion.

Jyo looked out a port window, and his eyes grew wide.

"What is it?" Zeek asked frantically.

"I'm not positive, but I think it's the Yuuzhan Vong!"


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The transport rocked with another hit and the shields began to fail. Jyo was correct in his guess. Just outside the Maw was a small Yuuzhan Vong fleet waiting to ambush and crush the transport vessels as they left the black hole cluster.

It was a relatively small group of ships. There were two cruiser analogs, roughly the size of a Corellian Corvette, as well as ten squadrons of coralskippers, their starfighter analogs about the same size as an X-Wing. Unlike the ships used in the Republic, the Yuuzhan Vong grew their ships, weapons, and armor. Everything they use is organic; and not because they never knew of technology, but because, to them, machines are considered blasphemous to their beliefs. They hated anything mechanic or synthetic. Thus, they would use the minerals of a planet they captured to grow the materials and equipment they needed. However, it had been several years since the Vong had controlled any planet, causing their supplies to become scarce. The small force attacking the transports was most likely one of the largest groups of ships left in the Yuuzhan Vong arsenal.

"Quickly, children! Strap yourselves in for the jump to hyperspace," Tahiri warned.

"But how are we going to jump with the Vong attacking us?" Zeek questioned.

"Don't worry. The Vong will have something more important to deal with very soon."

Just as she finished speaking another alarm started going off inside the transport.

"Ships are dropping out of hyperspace!" a sensors operator exclaimed.

"Is it more Vong?" someone shouted.

"No," the sensors operator replied, "these are our boys!"

Jyo adjusted his glasses for magnified vision so he could see what was going on out there. What he saw gave him a chill -- not a chill of fear but a chill of excitement. Dropping into realspace were two _Victory-_class Star Destroyers, a dreadnaught, and the Super Star Destroyer _Errant Venture_. The _Errant Venture_ could be recognized by anyone because it was the only Star Destroyer painted red. Out of the bellies of each capital ship soared four squadrons of starfighters made up of E-Wings, A-Wings, X-Wings, and B-Wings.

"Wow!" Jyo gasped in awe.

"What? What?" Denz demanded.

"Four capital ships just dropped out of hyperspace, and the _Errant Venture_ is one of them! They've already begun deploying starfighters."

"The _Errant Venture_?" Cordell asked. "Can you tell if our mom is out there? I can feel her, but I want to know if she's fighting."

"One minute." Jyo reached up and toggled the enhancement dial on his glasses. "Okay. I can see individual fighters now. Let's see." He started to check all the X-Wings that came out of the_ Errant Venture_. "Ha! There she is!"

"You found her, and she's in an X-Wing?" Cordell wanted to know.

"Yep, the paint scheme she has on her fighter is unmistakable."

"All right! Go Mom!"

"They're breaking off into groups of three." Jyo reported.

Zeek suddenly realized that the Vong cruisers were no longer hitting their transport. "What happened to the Vong's capital ships?"

Jyo turned his head slightly to the right. "The two _Victory_-class Star Destroyers and the dreadnaught have them trapped and are pounding them mercilessly, and the _Errant Venture_ has positioned itself right in the Vong's only escape path." When he turned his attention back to the starfighter brawl he cheered.

"What happened?" Cordell asked.

"By the looks of it, already half of the coralskippers have been destroyed!" Jyo replied merrily.

The transport shuddered suddenly as they took off into hyperspace. The last thing Jyo saw was one of the Vong cruisers drifting, dead toward one of the Maw's black holes; and then there was the white of hyperspace.

As all the transports escaped into hyperspace the starfighter battle was wearing down. The Yuuzhan Vong had already lost three-quarters of their coralskippers, but they would not retreat. The Yuuzhan Vong found death in battle honorable.

"Kyp! Ben! You guys still with me?" Jaina Solo Durron called out over the comlink. The mother of Cordell and Jyo was an ace pilot with her Force skills enhancing her ability. She had long wavy, brown hair and eyes that were such a dark brown that they almost looked black.

"Right here, honey," Kyp Durron replied just a little sarcastically to his wife. With jet-black hair, dark green eyes, and a very muscular build, Kyp looked as though he could be the brother of Darth Vader.

"I'm regrouping on your right, Jaina," Ben Skywalker replied, while trying not to chuckle at Kyp's response. The only son of Luke and Mara Skywalker, Ben had light brown hair and blue eyes that made him look like a much younger Luke.

"What's the matter boys? Having trouble keeping up with a girl?" Jaina teased.

"Knock it off, Jaina," Kyp retorted. "There are still more skips to destroy."

"All right, Mr. Serious. Follow me!"

_Women_, Kyp thought exasperated.

_I heard that_, Jaina thought back at him.

"Doh! Gotta stop doing that!"

"Skips at two o'clock!" Ben interrupted.

"Back to business." Jaina sighed.

A group of five skips was heading right for the trio.

"Choose your targets, and ready proton torpedoes!" Jaina ordered over the comlink.

"Ready!" Kyp and Ben replied at the same time.

"On my mark. One. Two. Three. Mark!"

The three of them fired in unison, and each proton torpedo sought out its designated target. The coralskippers moved their defense mechanisms, called dovin basils, into place to intercept the torpedoes. A dovin basil has a dual use. It can control a ship's movements and can act like a miniature black hole, sucking up anything that comes within range. In the initial battles with skips, their dovin basils had baffled the New Republic fighters. Since then, however, ways had been found to get around them, such as tiring them with low power laser shots. Also most proton torpedoes had been refitted with a mechanism that would detect one of the dovin basil voids and self-destruct just before being sucked in. This is just what happened to those three torpedoes. The voids could usually soak up some of the energy, but the explosive power of a proton torpedo is so great that it could never get it all. Enough almost always got past to destroy the skip. It was no different with these three.

"Good shots! Three down, two to go," Ben cheered.

The remaining two skips opened up with their plasma canons, but the trio easily dodged the volley.

"I'll take the one on the right," Jaina decided. "You two take care of the one on the left."

"As you command, Master Jaina." Kyp sighed.

Ignoring his tone, Jaina let loose a volley of low-powered stutter laser shots to overload her skip's dovin basil. As soon as shots started to get through, she switched over to full power and fired a quad burst that split the skip in two. "I'm all done here," she called over the comlink.

Ben and Kyp had surrounded and overwhelmed the remaining skip, blasting it into little pieces. "Finished," was Kyp's only response.

Jaina suddenly realized that there were no more skips left to be destroyed, and was slightly crestfallen. "This was hardly even a challenge."

"Don't you dare go and wish for some stronger enemy to appear just so you can have a challenge!" Kyp warned her.

"I won't. I won't." She rotated her X-Wing just in time to see the second Vong capital ship explode in a brilliant, bright flash.

Her comlink suddenly beeped and she received her final orders of the day, "_Suns and Stars_ squadron, you have received orders to return to dock in the _Errant Venture's_ starboard bay."

"That's us," Ben stated unnecessarily.

"Yeah," Jaina sighed. _I'm really just glad that we were able to get Jyo, Cordell and the rest of the young Jedi away safely._

_I heard that, _Kyp thought. _Don't tell me tough little Jaina is getting soft._

Jaina smiled to herself and thought back at him, _Don't tell anyone._


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

As soon as the transport jumped into hyperspace, Cordell groaned. "Aw, man! We missed the rest of the battle!"

Jyo finished readjusting his glasses to normal vision and sighed, "I can't believe you wanted to stay in a war zone."

"Come on Jyo, think about it. We've been cooped up in the Maw Installation for most of our lives. That was the most action we've ever seen!"

"You're right, Cordell!" Zeek agreed. "Good point."

Jyo and Denz looked at each other and rolled their eyes. The two older young Jedi shrugged their shoulders and said in unison, "Kids."

"Kids!" Zeek and Cordell exclaimed. "We're not that much younger than you guys," Zeek demanded.

Denz and Jyo just chuckled.

"My, my, my!" Tahiri said suddenly. "If this is true, perhaps you should mature some more before you are allowed to construct your lightsabers."

"Aahh!" All four young Jedi jumped back with surprise. They had forgotten that she was there.

"No! No!" Denz said quickly. "We're all old enough, and responsible enough to have lightsabers! Heh, heh."

"I suppose. But only if you promise to stop instigating one another."

"We promise."

"And don't let what other people say disturb you. Remember anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering."

"Yes, Tahiri."

"Good. See that you don't make any more trouble for the rest of the trip," Tahiri said as she walked away.

"Sorry about that guys," Denz apologized to Zeek and Cordell.

"No problem. We shouldn't have let it bother us," Cordell responded.

"So, what are we going to do for the rest of the trip?" Jyo wondered.

"Well if we had lightsabers, we could practice," Cordell said wistfully.

"Gee, but we don't have lightsabers do we?" Denz said annoyed.

"We could always play vid games in the lounge," Jyo suggested.

"Well, it's something to do even if that's all we ever did in our spare time at the Installation," Denz consented. "Let's go."

The four trudged off toward the game room.

Jaina jumped from the cockpit of her X-Wing to the floor of the starboard hanger bay inside the _Errant Venture._ She watched as the last few pilots in the _Sun and Stars_ squadron set down in their respective spaces. Kyp and Ben were already finished with their power down check and walked over to stand on either side of her. The P.A. system suddenly blared to life: "ATTENTION, ALL PERSONNEL. YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES TO PREPARE FOR THE JUMP TO HYPERSPACE. I REPEAT. IN 5 MINUTES WE WILL MAKE OUR JUMP TO THE CORE WORLDS."

"Let's go," Ben said. "My quarters are the closest."

Two minutes later they were inside Ben's room. It was a simple cabin with nothing but the basics: a bed, refresher, and a small view port facing starboard. "You guys want something to drink?" Ben asked as he opened his small refrigerator unit.

"I'll take one," Kyp said and caught the bottled water Ben tossed him.

"No thanks," Jaina declined. "But I would like to freshen up. Do you mind?"

"Go right ahead."

"Thanks," she said as she entered the refresher and closed the door.

Kyp took a gulp of his water. "So, how many kills did you get today?"

"Eleven."

"Not bad. Jaina got a total of sixteen, and I snagged twelve myself."

"Together it sounds like just the three of us took out a couple squadrons."

"Well if it were up to Jaina, she'd be the only one out there, so she could have all the fun."

"You know me so well," Jaina said as she stepped out of the refresher, drying off her face with a towel.

"You tend to know an awful lot about someone after being married to them for fifteen years," Kyp grinned.

"ONE MINUTE TO JUMP," the P.A. announced.

"I can't wait to get back to the Jedi Academy," Ben said. "I wonder if my dad will be there."

"You can bet Jacen will be. He and Tenel-Ka pretty much run the Academy themselves now."

Kyp finished off his drink and tossed it in the disposal unit. "If I know Luke and Mara, they're probably on some planet fighting off Vong just to keep busy," he chuckled. "They hardly seem to have aged a day since the Vong invasion. I mean besides the way they look on the outside."

The P.A. announced the 30-second mark.

Ben didn't hear it. He was searching for his parents through the Force to see if he could get an idea of their location.

_There they are,_ he thought. Ben found his parents on what he thought was Dantooine, a tropical paradise planet. It felt as though Luke and Mara were thoroughly enjoying themselves. _Which can mean only one thing, _Ben thought. _They're doing something dangerous. _He smiled to himself. Suddenly, Ben felt a flicker of worry and unbelief from his parents, and then ... he lost the connection as the_ Errant Venture_ made its jump to hyperspace.

"Hmmm."

"What is it Ben?" Jaina asked. "Aunt Mara and Uncle Luke are okay, aren't they?"

"They seemed worried about something, but were safe for the moment."

Jaina's comlink beeped suddenly, "Go ahead," she said into the speaker.

"This is General Jag Fel. Please report to my office for a new assignment."

"Ben and Kyp as well?" Jaina queried.

"Yes. I'll see you in ten minutes." The comlink clicked off.

"What do you suppose the new assignment is?" Kyp wondered.

Jaina shrugged, "Beats me, but we'll know soon enough."

In exactly ten minutes, the trio was standing outside General Fel's office. Jaina knocked and they were admitted.

"Lieutenant Solo Durron reporting, General," Jaina said with a salute.

"At ease, Jaina," Jag said. General Jag Fel was son to Baron Fel, former leader of the Imperial Remnant until it and the New Republic decided to join forces. Jag was just slightly shorter than Kyp with the same jet-black hair but worn in a short, military style crew cut. His piercing blue eyes could give even the toughest soldier a chill when they disobeyed orders. "Are you ready for your next mission?" He asked.

"You know I'm always ready for anything, sir."

Jag raised an eyebrow, "Yes, I do. And Jaina, you don't have to be so formal."

"Sorry, old habits die hard. So where are you sending us now?"

"We've had some reports on several planets about a possible new threat."

"New threat?" Kyp echoed.

"Yes. Our agents on Dathomir, Kashyyyk, Ord Mantell, Dantooine, and Myrkyr have reported seeing humans using Yuuzhan Vong weapons and reeking havoc on the locals."

Ben's lip twitched when Jag mentioned Dantooine.

Noticing this, Jag questioned it, "Something wrong Lieutenant Skywalker?"

"Well, General, just before we jumped into hyperspace, I was searching for my father through the Force and located him on Dantooine. He felt distressed about something."

"Interesting," Jag said as he rubbed his clean-shaven chin. "Well, as luck would have it, Dantooine is exactly where you three were going to be sent to investigate the occurrences."

"All right!" Ben exclaimed.

"Um, Jag."

"Yes, Kyp."

"I'm sure you've already thought of this, but what if the 'humans' were just Vong wearing ooglith masquers?" Kyp questioned.

The Vong grew ooglith masquers. They were creatures that, when worn, could make the wearer look like any known species.

Jag nodded, "You're right, Kyp, I had thought of that possibility; and disproved it by having a Jedi in each group of agents. When they searched for a Force presence, they always found one."

"Looks like I'll be seeing Mom and Dad for sure now!" Ben said with a smile.

"How long until we reach Dantooine?" Jaina asked.

"Approximately five hours," Jag replied. "I'm assuming this means that you accept the mission."

Jaina scoffed, "As if there was any doubt."

Jag raised an eyebrow, "Indeed. You are dismissed."

The three left General Fel's office and decided to get something to eat in the dining hall, but their thoughts were far from food as they sat down at a table with their plates of roasted womprat.

"... the Vong have used mind control on humans before," Ben was saying, "but they were usually just used as workers, not as weapons."

"And speaking of weapons. Since when can a human control a Vong weapon like an amphistaff?" Kyp wondered.

Amphistaffs were the hand-to-hand combat weapon used by the Yuuzhan Vong. A snake-like creature also grown by the Yuuzhan Vong, an amphistaff's body cannot be pierced or cut by even a lightsaber. An amphistaff has multiple functions, such as the ability to go limp and be used like a whip, or become rigid like a sword or spear. It is also able to bite an enemy and inject venom into their veins.

"I don't know how they're doing it," Ben said, "but it must be pretty bad if it can worry my dad."

"But we don't know that these humans are what Uncle Luke was worried about," Jaina argued.

"Come on, Jaina. You and I both know my dad well enough to know that not a lot can get to him, and that this is just the sort of thing that could."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"That's it! I am officially BORED!" Zeek groaned as he tossed aside the vid game he was playing.

Two hours had passed since the four first entered the lounge. Jyo and Denz had immediately started up a virtual chess match, while Cordell and Zeek headed into the zero gravity room for a game of grav ball. However, the chess match was abandoned after an hour, as Cordell and Zeek also lost interest in competing against each other after only half an hour; after which they played all the vid games available. Upon leaving their chess match, Jyo and Denz had settled down on one of the couches and begun a Jedi meditation exercise, which they had been in for the past hour. Zeek glanced over at Cordell, who was trying to solve a very difficult brain twister. He looked back at his brother and Jyo and said to himself,_ I'd go into a trance too, but I'm just too restless_. Zeek sighed, used the Force to lift a chair into the air, and started spinning it.

"Ugh! I give up. This problem is just too tough," Cordell growled disgustedly. He turned off the holocube and rotated to face Zeek, who was still spinning the chair. "You bored too?"

"Uh, didn't you hear what I just said?"

"Sorry. Guess I wasn't paying attention," Cordell admitted. He glanced over at the two older Jedi students still sitting on the couch in a trance. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Cordell asked Zeek as he looked from Denz and Jyo to the floating chair and back.

Zeek caught on, "I get ya." He gently put the chair down, lifted two thick instruction manuals up off a shelf, and slowly moved them toward the two sitting on the couch.

"Easy," Cordell whispered.

Zeek only nodded as he moved the books to hover over Denz and Jyo's head. When they were in position, a smile slowly crept onto Zeek's face, and he let them drop. The books dropped an inch and stopped dead still hovering over the two's heads.

"Why did you stop them?" Cordell asked.

"I didn't," Zeek replied. He tried pushing them down more, but they wouldn't budge.

"That's weird," Cordell said with a confused look on his face. "You'd almost think that they were…" he stopped mid sentence as Denz and Jyo slowly opened their eyes to look at Cordell and Zeek's expressions of surprise. Jyo and Denz smiled and replaced the manuals on the shelf.

"But…you were…we thought…um…hi?" Cordell stuttered.

"He means, 'weren't you in a trance?'" Zeek asked.

"Yes, a senses enhancing exercise," Denz stated.

"We knew what you were planning almost before you did," Jyo said with a chuckle.

"Besides, didn't Tahiri say not to make any more trouble on this trip?" Denz reminded them.

"You should be glad we stopped your prank. It might have caused you to lose your lightsaber privileges."

Zeek and Cordell both looked a little disgruntled. "I hate it when you talk to us like we're a couple of little kids," Cordell stormed.

"If the boot fits," Denz shrugged.

"Humph! We don't have to take this. C'mon, Zeek!"

Zeek had been quiet up to this time, but when he spoke, he surprised everyone. "No, Cordell. I think they're right. That joke was pretty childish."

"I can't believe this! Zeek, don't forget that although it was my idea, you still went along with it."

Zeek nodded, "I know that, and I realize I was wrong."

"So you're just gonna let them lecture you like you're a five year old?"

"You're really making an awfully big deal out of this, Cordell," Jyo said with a frown.

"Zip it!"

Jyo flinched and looked down at his lap.

"Hey!" Denz said as he stood. "That's no way to talk to your brother!"

"That's exactly it. He's my brother, but just once I wish that when the four of us are together everyone would treat me as a friend. Not the friend of two and the brother of one." Cordell stormed out of the lounge and the door swished closed behind him.

The three were silent for a long moment. Denz cleared his throat and spoke first. "So…um…what now?"

"Should we try to find Cordell and work this out?" Zeek asked.

"No," Jyo said. "I think I know why he did what he did and said what he said. He's done it before at the Installation. These little outbursts are really just his way of blowing off some really pent up energy."

"Energy, huh?" Denz scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Trust me. By the time we get to the Core Worlds he'll act as if that conversation we just had never happened."

Before Jyo could continue, a large group of Jedi Students entered the lounge talking loudly and joking. The place was soon buzzing with activity.

"We'll never be able to have a decent conversation in here," Jyo said as the three huddled together. "Let's find a quieter place to talk."

Soon the trio had squeezed their way through the crowd of students and out into the hallway. "Okay, now where would a nice peaceful place on this ship be?" Zeek wondered.

"How about the hold?" Denz suggested. "There might be some cool stuff in there too."

"The hold it is," Jyo agreed.

The three walked the length of the ship to the hold. They passed many other Jedi students and some Jedi teachers, but saw no sign of Cordell on the way. Several minutes later they were in the hold looking for a good place to sit. There was plenty of room, and soon they had each picked a crate to make their chair. Denz had just "happened" to pick a box that contained some parts to comlinks, blasters, and droids. He was soon on the floor of the hold instead with a pile of pieces in front of him and his multitool in one hand.

Jyo sighed and Zeek asked him, "So what were you saying about Cordell's energy?"

Jyo glanced at Denz and knew right away that the only reason he suggested the hold was because of all the mechanical equipment it contained. He turned his attention back to Zeek and responded, "Well, I've noticed that if Cordell is kept inactive for too long it produces a powerful buildup of not only physical but also Force energy."

"Should he be considered dangerous when this buildup becomes too great?" Zeek asked worriedly.

"I had thought of that, so I voiced my fears to Tahiri. She told me that she too had sensed this power buildup before, and made sure that Cordell almost always had something to do."

"That must have been difficult to do on the Installation since most maintenance was mechanical, and you know electronics is not his strong point."

Jyo looked over at Denz, whom he thought hadn't even been paying attention, but apparently he was, although he never even looked up from what he was doing. "Yes, that was a problem. One of the first assignments he was given was mechanical, and they soon found that this type of work only frustrated him and increased his power buildup."

"Finished!" Denz said with a smile. He held up four small devices that looked like wristwatches. "One for each of us."

"What are they?" Zeek asked as he took one from Denz and started to inspect it.

"Wait! Do we want to know?" Jyo asked.

Denz gave him a mock look of hurt, but told them anyway, "They're special comlinks."

"We've already got comlinks," Zeek said still looking the device over.

"What makes them 'special'?" Jyo asked as he gave Denz a sideways look.

"The four of them have their own wavelength so there will be no interference."

"That can't be it knowing you," Jyo said.

"Why, I don't know what you're talking about," Denz said defensively.

"Uh huh. Now what's really so special about them?"

"Well…they each contain a small but powerful explosive."

"I knew it!"

"Cool!" Zeek exclaimed.

Jyo ignored him, "No thanks. I would really rather not carry around an explosive device."

"Oh, it's perfectly safe…now."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It won't detonate unless a small pin is removed from the timer mechanism. Right now you could throw it, drop it, or dunk it in water and it wouldn't blow up."

"And how does one remove this pin?" Jyo wanted to know.

"A voice command."

"Wow, can it be anything you want it to be?" Zeek asked excitedly.

"Sure. Just press and hold the little red button on the side while you say the activation word or phrase."

"Now Zeek, I still don't think this is a good idea…"

Zeek pressed the button and said, "This is so." After he had finished the device beeped to indicate that the password was accepted.

"Now I'll do mine," Denz said and pressed the red button, "Blaster bolts." It beeped as well. "Oh, by the way, I call them combombs."

"That's it! There's no way I'm going to wear this! What purpose could they possibly serve?"

"Well, I guess you'll just know when the time comes."

"Right."

"C'mon, Jyo. Don't be such an Ewok."

"What if someone else says our pass codes for the combombs?"

"Don't worry. They will only respond to your voice print in addition to the red button being depressed."

"All right, I give up," Jyo said exasperated as he took one of the remaining combombs from Denz. He pushed the red button and entered his password, "Man with the plan".

"What are you looking at?" He asked when he saw Denz and Zeek staring at him.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Denz said with a smirk.

"Yeah, absolutely nothing," Zeek coughed.

The three of them continued to sit there in the hold and talk and joke until suddenly, they realized they had gotten hungry. They left the hold and headed for the cafeteria. On the way, they came across a large group of students rushing toward the front of the ship. Denz stopped one of them and asked what was going on.

"Didn't you hear the announcement?" the student said in a rush. "We'll be arriving at the Core Worlds in about an hour." Before any of them could reply, the boy rushed off to catch up with the rest of the students.

"Looks like we found a way to kill time after all," Jyo said.

"Come on! Let's go get a seat at a viewport for when we come out of hyperspace," Zeek said excitedly.

They still saw no sign of Cordell, "Okay, I guess we'll just meet up with Cordell after we land," Denz said as they started walking in the direction the other students had gone, totally forgetting their appetite. Zeek, of course, raced ahead. Denz and Jyo took up a more dignified pace. As they moved farther toward the front of the ship, Denz noticed the expression on Jyo's face. "You seem worried. What's up?" he asked.

Jyo turned his head to look at Denz. His brow was creased with concern as he told Denz what was on his mind; "I was still pondering Cordell's power buildups, when it suddenly occurred to me that…you know how he lashed out at us in the lounge?"

"Yeah."

"Anger."

"Anger?"

"When his power builds up and he has no way to expel some of it, he uses anger as an out or release. What worries me is that someday his angry outbursts won't be the only thing he does to release his pent up energy."

Denz gave Jyo a confused look.

"What I'm trying to say is that I'm afraid that his inability to keep his power under control will cause Cordell to seek new ways to alleviate it. Ways much worse than an angry outburst. I'm afraid that in a desperate attempt to relieve his pent up power, he will almost unknowingly turn to the Dark side!"

Denz stopped walking altogether, and stood there in the hallway with the most shocked expression his human facial muscles could possibly create.

"It's Jedi lesson 101," Jyo said. "Anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Jaina, Kyp, and Ben's X-Wings soared away from the _Errant Venture's_ starboard bay and streaked toward the lush world of Dantooine. They maintained com silence to avoid attracting any attention to themselves. They were not to announce their presence to the planet's air traffic control, but were to instead land at the coordinates that had been programmed into their X-Wings' nav computers. The trio entered the atmosphere undetected and set their ships on autopilot to take them to the coordinates by way of the fastest route. The terrain they flew over was mostly forest and mountains, but after passing over the peak of one large mountain, they saw a clearing large enough for several small starships to put down. The autopilot bleeped, alerting them that this was where the coordinates indicated they should land. The three Jedi pilots quickly set down and exited their starfighters.

"I don't see anyone, do you?" Ben asked.

"No," Jaina replied, "but I sense someone." She scanned the edge of the clearing. "There," she said pointing.

From where Jaina was pointing, a middle-aged human male stepped out from the underbrush, "Hello, there," he called to the trio.

"Okay, he's got a Force presence," she told her companions. To the man Jaina asked, "Are you our contact?"

"Yep. Jake Microx is the name. I'm here to take you to see Luke Skywalker and the rest of our group."

"Why didn't Jag mention that Dad was a part of the scout group on this planet?" Ben wondered.

"Well, actually he wasn't," Jake admitted. "Your dad found and joined us after encountering the new threat you were told about."

"What exactly is this new threat?" Kyp asked.

"We really shouldn't talk anymore here. All your questions will be answered when we get back to base. Follow me." Jake started back in the direction he had come.

"Won't our X-Wings be kind of obvious just sitting out in the open like this?" Kyp wondered.

Jake stopped walking and turned around, "Ah, thank you. I almost forgot." He took out a small device, pointed it straight up, and pressed a button. Suddenly, the sky they could see began to shimmer and change to match the top of the trees surrounding the clearing. "Now anyone who passes over the clearing will see only trees."

"Ah, a hologram," Ben nodded.

"Yes, now come."

The three followed Jake through the underbrush. After a short distance, Jake stopped walking and pointed his hologram device at a bunch of bushes. These bushes proved to be just another hologram after he deactivated them to reveal an armored speeder. Jake motioned for them to climb in. Once they were all seated, Jake started the speeder and pushed it up to full throttle right away. Soon they were zipping around trees and over ravines as they shot through the forest. Even at top speed, Jake handled the speeder excellently as he missed any and all obstacles. Jaina could sense a deep calm in him that proved his ability. She suddenly realized something, "You're a Jedi aren't you?"

"That's right. I'm the one that was appointed to my group on Dantooine."

"I knew it," she said. "Only someone with Jedi reflexes could navigate the forest so flawlessly."

After several minutes of constant weaving around trees and other things in their path, they reached a small clearing and right in front of them was one of the mountains they had seen earlier!

"Not to be a back-seat driver or anything," Ben said from behind Jake, "but don't you think you should turn or stop or something. If not, we'll probably crash right into that mountain there."

"Trust me."

"Whatever you say," Ben said with a sigh. He kind of figured that Jake had some trick up his sleeve.

Sure enough, just as it seemed they would smack right into the side of the mountain … they went through it and into a tunnel inside the rock face.

"Another hologram?" Kyp asked knowingly.

"You guessed it," Jake replied with a laugh. "As you can tell, we use them a lot to help us stay hidden."

"So, your base is inside the mountain?" Ben asked.

"Sort of. This tunnel here spirals down through the mountain and into the planet's crust."

"In other words," Kyp said, "your base is underground and underneath a mountain. How much more hidden can you get?"

The speeder continued down the dark tunnel, the only light coming from the glow panels on the front of the speeder. Jaina didn't have to feel it, even in the almost darkness she could see the worry and confusion on Ben's face.

"What wrong Ben?"

"I can't understand it. Ever since we entered the tunnel I have been trying to find my dad below us and got nothing, but when I stopped focusing on only one point and widened my search, I did find him; and he's nowhere near here!"

Jaina was shocked at this revelation, "Hey!" She frowned at Jake. "I thought you said you were taking us to Luke Skywalker!"

"Slight change in plans," Jake said without turning around. "Someone else wanted to meet you first."

The speeder came to an abrupt halt, and Jaina saw from the light of the glow panels that they were in a large cavern. "Where are we?" She demanded.

Instead of answering, Jake exited the speeder, leaving the lights on, but taking the keys. "Welcome to your final resting place," he said as he walked to stand in the light from the glow panels.

"Not good, guys," Kyp said from the front seat.

"What?"

"I just scanned this place for a Force presence, but other than you, me, Ben, and Jake, I can't sense anything. Everything else is a void in the Force."

"You mean we're surrounded by Vong?" Ben gulped.

Kyp didn't need to answer, on either side of Jake a Yuuzhan Vong appeared holding an amphistaff, and all around them they saw the faint glow of yellow eyes longing for their deaths.

Denz and Jyo walked down the corridor of the transport ship in an uneasy silence. Denz thought about the four of them. Jyo, Cordell, Zeek, and himself, he never would have believed that any of them could turn to the Dark side. He stared at the floor of the hallway as he kept pace with Jyo. He was suddenly aware that Jyo was no longer beside him. Denz looked up, but he was nowhere in sight. When he turned around, Denz saw Zeek standing at a transparasteel window and next to him was Jyo.

"Hey!" he said as he started toward them. "Were you just going to let me keep walking? And what are you looking at?" Denz walked up to stand on the other side of Zeek and looked through the window.

Inside were several Jedi students. All but one was sitting on the floor. All but one was watching the action. That one was Cordell. In front of him hovered a small orb covered with tiny holes. From these holes low-power laser blasts shot at whatever target was within range. It was a basic practice orb for honing a Jedi's reflex ability. The more advanced Jedi students like Denz, Jyo, Cordell, and Zeek, considered the practice orb to be far too easy. Its highest setting wasn't very challenging to them. But this orb was firing at a rate and rhythm that was not in its "original" programming.

"Ugh, he's using the orb I modified," Denz groaned. "I told him I hadn't had a chance to test it yet."

"Looks like he's testing it for you now," Zeek said still watching intently.

Cordell was really moving in there. Every now and then, the other students would clap lightly for an exceptionally impressive display. The laser bolts were firing almost non-stop and in an extremely random order. Denz, Jyo, and Zeek watched along with the other students as Cordell rolled to the left to avoid a volley of shots and jumped out of the roll to avoid being hit in the foot. As he landed, Cordell ducked another shot then swayed left to dodge another.

"I guess he found a way to use that energy after all," Jyo said.

"He's awesome," Zeek exclaimed.

"His Force power is incredible," Jyo said with awe as Cordell continued to maneuver with unbelievable speed and agility. His movements were almost a blur. Suddenly a few sparks flew from the practice orb as it began to slow down. Cordell dodged the last few shots it fired before it stopped altogether and fell to the floor with a clunk, where it continued to spark and sizzle until Cordell switched it off.

Cordell put the orb in his bag and smiled as he walked out of the room. "I guess your modifications to the practice orb still have a few bugs to work out," Zeek chuckled. "Race you guys to the front of the ship!" Zeek called back to Denz and Jyo as he took off, and then it was just Denz and Jyo…again.

The two took up their previous pace and started down the corridor in the direction Zeek had gone. They didn't speak. What was there to say? They were both thinking the same thing and they new it. _No matter what,_ Denz and Jyo thought, _we must try to keep Cordell from becoming evil. And the first step in doing that is never mentioning our fear of that happening._

The two friends nodded to each other. "Oh," Denz added, "and we shouldn't tell Zeek about it either. You know he has a hard time keeping a secret."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Dantooine.

In a secret base somewhere on the planet's face, Luke Skywalker sat in concentration. He opened his eyes suddenly. Luke knew Ben and the others were in trouble. He could sense their surprise and disbelief. Something had gone wrong. He had known they were coming. He had felt them land. He could feel them coming toward him, coming closer. That was before they stopped abruptly. He considered that it might be for a break or meal, but no such thing was supposed to happen. Jake's orders were to bring them directly here. Then he could feel it. As cold as a winter's wind, Luke felt a mind that had stopped blocking his probe. That mind was Jake's, and it was soiled with betrayal. Luke knew there was nothing he could do. It would take an hour to get to their position. And he knew by then it would be too late. All he could do was hope they survived whatever it was that they were up against.

From what Kyp could see in the incredibly dim light, he made a guess at what they were up against. "I'd say about fifty Vong, not to mention our friend Jake over there," Kyp jerked a thumb in the Jedi traitor's direction.

The three of them were outside of the speeder now, and fully aware that they were completely surrounded by the Vong. In the sparse light provided by the speeder's glowpanels, all the three Jedi could make out was most likely just the first line of Vong waiting to attack.

Ben's voice was hard with determination, "Let me take Jake. He's keeping me from seeing my father."

Jaina and Kyp nodded; they understood.

"Jake," Ben called, "I challenge you to a duel. Just you and me."

"Do you take me for a fool?" Jake chuckled. "I am quite skilled in the use of a lightsaber, but you and I both know that I could never be a match for you, young Skywalker."

"Then why don't you have some of your Vong buddies help you to even out the odds," Ben challenged.

Jake considered this for a moment, and then motioned to one of the Vong. He must have relayed the challenge to him and chosen that warrior as his partner. "Very well," Jake said to Ben. "Gokong Lah and I will accept your challenge."

"Only one Vong? Do you really think so little of my skills?" Ben mocked the traitorous Jedi.

Jake scowled at the younger Jedi, "Just remember, you brought this on yourself." He motioned to another Vong who came to stand on the other side of Jake. "This is Gokong's brother, Veeka Lah. He will also be aiding me in your destruction."

"Tell them that this shall be an honorable duel, and that no one is to intervene—."

"Why don't you tell them yourself," Jake interrupted as he tossed him as small white object.

Ben knew what this was. It was a tizowyrm, the Yuuzhan Vong translation device. It was a tiny wormlike creature that you inserted into your ear so you could understand the Yuuzhan Vong language, both when you hear it and speak it. After Ben had inserted the creature in his left ear, he relayed his request for an honorable duel to the masses of Vong. They agreed to his terms. No one would interfere with his personal bout. Also, until his duel was over, his friends would not be attacked either.

"They accept," Jake prompted. "Now let us begin."

Ben removed the tizowyrm from his ear and handed it to Jaina. "We might need this later," was all he said.

Jaina nodded and said quietly, "May the Force be with you."

Ben gave her a reassuring smile and turned back to face Jake and his two companions who already had their amphistaffs in the ready position. Jake smiled cruelly at Ben as he unclipped his lightsaber from behind his back, and ignited the golden-bronze blade.

Ben also unclipped his own lightsaber. This was the first lightsaber he had ever constructed. It had served him well for eight years now, and he put his faith in it once again as he switched on the light blue saber, the same color as his eyes. The eyes he had inherited from his father, Luke Skywalker. These eyes burned with determination. This determination would will Ben to survive this obstacle and see his father and mother again.

Denz and Jyo stepped out of the turbolift and into the forward viewing area. This part of the ship was already packed with other Young Jedi, each trying to get a good position in front of a viewport for when the ship reentered realspace. Denz spotted Zeek's head near the front and waved. Zeek saw him and motioned them toward him. He had saved them each a spot. Denz and Jyo wiggled their way through a couple of other students and could see Zeek completely, and standing next to him, looking out the viewport, was a taller boy with white-blond hair.

"It's Cordell," Denz said to Jyo without turning his head. "Don't forget…"

"Right. Not a word."

"Hey, guys!" Zeek smiled.

"Hi, Zeek," Jyo replied. He jerked a thumb at Cordell, who was now turned to face them, "I see you found Cordell."

"Actually, he found me. I got here pretty quick after we saw him in the training room, but he walked in only a couple minutes after me."

"Cool gadget, Denz," Cordell said as he held up his wrist to display the combomb wrapped around it.

"Yeah," Zeek added, "because you had given me the extra one to hold on to, I was able to give it to Cordell when he caught up with me."

"Zeek already explained how it works and everything."

"No gratitude, though. He won't even tell me what his password is."

Cordell chuckled. _He seems so much more relaxed now_, Denz thought.

"Oh, here ya go Denz," Cordell said interrupting his thoughts as he handed him a small bag. "Your practice orb needs a tune-up."

"Gee, thanks," Denz replied dryly.

The four stood in silence for several minutes, staring out at the white of hyperspace. Cordell broke the silence, "I forgot to ask. What did you guys do after I left?"

"Oh, nothing much, you know. Wandering the ship, being bored out of our minds," Denz said quickly.

Zeek was about to ask his brother why he said that, but a look from Jyo told him to drop it.

Cordell turned back to the viewport. "Why don't you want me telling him about our conversation?" Zeek whispered to Jyo.

Jyo responded equally quietly, "Cordell might get upset if he knew we were talking about him behind his back like that."

Zeek nodded in understanding.

Jyo sighed. What he told Zeek was a half-truth. For one thing, he knew Cordell wouldn't like it if he heard that they were talking about his personal problems. Also, Cordell would want details as to what exactly they said about him. And because Cordell was a Jedi, he would be able to detect a lie.

The four resumed staring out the viewport, each thinking their own thoughts. Zeek was wondering why Jyo and Denz were being so secretive. Cordell was curious as to what kind of food there would be at their new home. Jyo still worried about Cordell. And Denz (although still concerned about Cordell) pondered a way to make his practice orb even better.

Cordell could feel it. Something had happened to his parents. Whether that something was something to be worried about, he did not know. _Oh well_, he thought, _Jyo's Force perception is better than mine, so if anything were wrong he would have said so_. Cordell shrugged to himself, and tried to think about something else.

Jyo, however, had been too worried about his brother to notice that there was something wrong with his parents, light years away, in an underground cavern, beneath a mountain, on Dantooine.

As Ben prepared for battle, he reached out to Kyp and Jaina, and suggested a Force Meld. In a Force Meld, several Jedi join their minds so that they are all aware of what each is seeing, thinking, or feeling. In this instance, because Ben couldn't sense the Vong warriors, he connected with his two friends so they could each act as an extra set of eyes for him. Wherever they saw the Vong, Ben would know where that was, and thus, it would seem as though he could sense their every movement.

Except for the humming of the two blades, it was deathly quiet. Then, it began. The two Vong rushed at the same time. Gokong tried to take Ben's feet off, while Veeka swung his amphistaff at Ben's neck.

Expecting this two-pronged attack, the agile young Skywalker leaped over Gokong's staff turning in midair to a horizontal position, and both blocking Veeka's headshot and landing a kick to Gokong's head as he rushed by. Through the Force Meld, he saw Gokong stumble before turning about to attack again. The vondum crab shell he wore as helmet and body armor kept it from doing worse. Veeka had also flashed passed after his attack had been unexpectedly blocked. Ben, sensing where Jake was, twisted his body once more before landing to face the cowardly Jedi and brought his blade down to meet Jake's. The two weapons sparked as they connected. Ben took a quick step back, breaking the connection, only to follow up with several fast jabs that Jake blocked. He felt Jaina warning him that the two Vong brothers were positioning themselves for another attack. Ben decided that he had better attend to them first, so he lunged at Jake again from the left only to have his attack blocked. However, Ben used the momentum from the block to bring his lightsaber around in an uppercut swipe, which Jake barely had enough time to bring his blade around to parry, but in deflecting the blow left his midsection open to a kick from Ben. Jake was sent reeling, clutching his stomach.

Veeka was now on his left, while his brother was on his right. Jake was struggling to get up and catch his breath. The two Vong closed the distance between themselves and Ben. This made it harder for Ben to see them both at the same time. Suddenly, he felt Kyp warn him that Gokong's amphistaff was about to spray its acid-like venom at Ben. Ben's move was simple. He took half a step backward just as the amphistaff released its venom, grabbed the poison with the Force, and pushed it along its original vector, right into the face of Veeka Lah.

You didn't have to see it. You could hear it. The hiss and sizzle of the venom on the Vong's face not protected by the vondum crab helmet was loud and distinctive. Not to mention the muffled screams of pain from Veeka Lah as he clutched his face. He started to swing his amphistaff wildly. Ben dodged one swipe after another, when he felt Jaina's warning. Gokong had pulled out a thud bug (another Yuuzhan Vong weapon that acted as a organic hand-grenade) and was about to hurl it at Ben's back. Ben turned quickly to deflect the thud bug with his lightsaber, but in doing this he took his attention off of Veeka's wild swings. One of which connected; scoring a long slash across Ben's back. He turned swiftly, and with a hard downward slash, knocked the amphistaff from Veeka's one hand. Ben then followed with an upward swing through the shoulder gap in the armor, severing his left arm. Ben finished it by bringing his blade around in a horizontal slash that took Veeka's legs off at the knees. Veeka fell to the ground, still clutching his face as his slowly died.

Gokong Lah did not look happy, and Jake was just recovering from his first bout with Ben. _Okay, one down, two to go._


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The traitor, Jake Microx, stared at the remains of what was once Veeka Lah; merely a one-armed torso still twitching in its final death throes. He had expected the young Skywalker to be good, but Veeka, as well as his brother Gokong, had been named among the top warriors of the Lah cast. Yet one of them had just been taken out like a second-class soldier!

Jake calmed himself, _The fool was probably just over-confident_, he thought to himself. _Yes_, he assured himself, _that must be it_.

For some reason that didn't make Jake feel any better as he watched Gokong angrily go on the offensive. _If I lose this fight, even if Skywalker doesn't kill me, the Vong will_. He allowed himself a small smile, _Which is why I always have a contingency plan_.

The hyperspace alarm blared in the forward viewing area where Denz, Jyo, Cordell, and Zeek stood, anxious to see their new home. The white of hyperspace became fine white streaks before reverting to their normal state as small points of light called stars. Straight ahead the four friends saw the lush, green world that had been donated specifically to the Jedi for their part in repelling the Yuuzhan Vong. Luke, being the "leader" of the Jedi, was chosen to give the Jedi's new home a suitable name. Luke had appropriately named the planet of the peacekeepers and protectors, Jedron or the place where all journeys begin and end.

"Wow!" Zeek breathed.

"This is the first time I've seen an actual planet!" Cordell stated, wide-eyed.

"It's the first time for all of us," Denz reminded him.

Jyo was speechless with awe.

As the four gazed upon their new home, where they would grow physically and in their Jedi abilities, they dreamed of the adventures that would take place there and those that would lead them to the far reaches of the galaxy. It was like a new beginning for them here. Here they would have the room and freedom to grow and develop into their own persons, different from one another in many ways. They saw themselves being presented with numerous decisions that they would have to make, and in the end their choices may decide if someone lives or dies, chooses the light side or falls to the seduction of the dark side.

Although the four friends knew not exactly what their new home held for them, they were certain that this planet and what happened to them on it, would change each of their individual lives forever….

Forever. That's what it feels like. Waiting for your opponent to make the next move, or waiting for the right time to make yours. Forever. It's how long the consequences of a right or wrong move last once executed. Forever is death. Death is the only unquestionable forever. Once something is dead, it's forever. Death is forever, and by the looks on the faces of the two warriors facing each other, one was about to face that absolute forever called death.

The two charged. One human, one alien. One Jedi, one warrior. Both thinking the same thought: _This will decide it!_

Gokong growled and thrust his amphistaff at Ben's right shoulder in an attempt to inject poison into his bloodstream. Watching his brother's executioner twitch and convulse as he died would be pure pleasure for Gokong.

Ben, however, was not about to allow him such pleasure, as he not only ducked the attack but also dodged to the left. As they continued past each other, Ben brought his lightsaber around in an upward arc across Gokong's chest armor.

Then it was over. Both combatants stopped motionless with their backs to each other. The two slowly stood up straight and turned to face the other. The only mark of damage was a long, dark streak across Gokong's armor from his left hip to his right shoulder. Ben watched as his opponent grinned, took one step forward, and fell to the ground and split in two right where the mark on his armor had been. What everyone had thought was a feeble attempt to pierce the vondum crab armor was really the deciding blow.

Kyp silently queried Ben on his tactic. He replied with a question of his own, _The Vong are a void in the force, correct?_

_Yes, but what does that have to do with what just happened._

_Simple,_ Ben replied, _as I swung with my lightsaber, I looked at the attack through the Force instead of my eyes. It took a lot of energy and concentration, but I was able to _see_ my weapon going through the void and coming out the other side. Thus, the result, _he said gesturing at the smoldering remains of the second Vong warrior.

Kyp could tell that that move took a lot out of Ben, but he should still have no problem with Jake.

Ben sent one more thought to Kyp and Jaina that told them to get ready to use the move Jacen had discovered when trying to rescue Jaina many years ago, but had only just started teaching it to some of the older Jedi. Ben turned to Jake who was still gaping in awe at what had just happened. He glanced at Skywalker, noticed something, and looked harder. No, he wasn't seeing things. Skywalker looked tired. He was breathing heavy and looked like he was struggling to stand.

The performance Ben was putting on really seemed to be convincing Jake that he was exhausted. He had to make sure Jake believed that he could take Ben down himself and didn't just have them all slaughtered by the Vong. Ben figured Jake would be desperate to earn points with the Vong after having sent two of their best warriors to their deaths.

Jake rushed at Ben and swung wildly at him. Ben "seemed" to just barely be able to block the attack. Ben's counter was weak and easily stopped by Jake. This process continued for several minutes. On the edge of his awareness, Ben could feel the Force growing in Kyp and Jaina. He only hoped that Jake didn't notice it as well. But Jake was so thrilled about the prospect of defeating Ben that he wasn't paying attention to anything else.

_What a narrow-minded Jedi_, Ben thought, and then laughed silently to himself when he realized how ridiculous that sounded.

Kyp and Jaina sent a quick thought, _Ready_.

Ben nodded and blocked an attack from Jake. When Jake charged again, Ben gave him a quick push with the Force to knock him off balance. Jake stumbled in his headlong rush, taking his eyes off Ben. In that spit-second, Ben dashed in and struck Jake's lightsaber with such force that it flew from his hand into the air. Ben jumped after it and slashed the handle in two, shutting off the blade. The two halves of the lightsaber fell to the ground at Jake's feet. When he looked up from his broken weapon, he saw Ben standing there, defiance radiating from him.

"You played me!" Jake realized. "But for what purpose?"

Ben smiled and turned off his lightsaber, "I just needed a little time."

As if on cue, Kyp and Jaina released all of their pent up energy. A bright flash came from their bodies as Force lightning shot out in every direction toward the Yuuzhan Vong. Although the bolts looked like they hit randomly, each and every one was aimed at a specific target. Within seconds, every single Yuuzhan Vong lay writhing on the floor. The only ones left standing were Jaina, Kyp, Ben, and a very wide-eyed Jake Microx.

"You killed ALL of them!" Jake said in awe.

"No, only paralyzed them," Kyp corrected as he walked over and grabbed Jake by the collar.

"I vote that we get out of here," Jaina said as she hopped into the speeder, which was also undamaged.

"I second the motion," Ben called as he hurried over to the vehicle.

"It's unanimous, Jaina. I think even ol' Jakey Boy wants to get gone before his buddies here can move again."

"YES! Please take me with you!"

"Well, since you asked so nicely," Kyp said as he tossed Jake into the back seat of the speeder and climbed in himself.

Jaina sped back up the twisting passage that had led them to the cave of Yuuzhan Vong.

Ben turned around in his seat to look at Jake, "Do you have anything in here that goes 'boom'?" he asked.

"There's a thermal detonator in the front compartment."

"Bingo," Ben cried when he found it. He set the timing mechanism for five seconds, and as soon as he saw daylight, Ben released the trigger and tossed the detonator out into the tunnel.

They flew out of the tunnel just as the detonator exploded, causing a cave-in that reverberated all the way down to the cave deep within the mountain, crushing the still-paralyzed Yuuzhan Vong.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The cousin crew watched through the viewport as Jedron rushed up at them. As they approached the landing field, Jyo spotted a small group of Jedi that had gathered to greet the students. He reported that none of those gathered were recognizable to him from the holos they had received at the Installation.

The four transports began their final approach and extended their landing gear. After touching down and being secured, the four ships lowered their boarding ramps. The small group of Jedi smiled with joy when down each ramp about twenty-five to thirty young Jedi of all ages disembarked. In all there was one hundred seventeen Jedi students that arrived that day. One hundred seventeen Force talented individuals that took their first step on an actual planet, breathed their first breath of natural air, and felt for the first time the life that a planet radiates through the Force.

As the students exited the ships, they gazed in wonder at everything. The sun, the grass, the trees, the mountains, the buildings, there wasn't much that did not amaze these young minds that had been trapped on a space station for so long. The group of about ten Jedi Knights and Teachers greeted the Jedi students warmly. The young Jedi were split up into groups led by one Jedi each. They were then taken to be assigned living quarters before being allowed to explore their new home. Denz, Jyo, Cordell and Zeek ended up in a group led by a large hairy creature named Lowbacca. His fur was a deep brown and he had a black streak of fur over his left eye. Hanging diagonally across his chest and around his waist was an ammunition belt. Clipped to one side of his waist belt was what looked like a crossbow, and on the opposite side was a rather large looking lightsaber handle. The creature named Lowbacca stood there with his arms crossed over his chest baring his animal-like fangs in what appeared to be a smile of welcome.

"Hey guys," Jyo whispered to the others, "I think that's a wookie. I read about them in one of the library's books. They are really strong but smart at the same time. Some of the most advanced computers have been created by wookie scientists!"

Just then, Tahiri, traditionally barefoot, padded down the boarding ramp of the ship Denz and the others had been on. She must have seen Lowbacca because she dashed right for him and embraced him like an old friend. Tahiri then introduced Lowbacca to his group saying, "Attention everyone! This is our resident wookie Jedi, Lowbacca. He had accompanied Jacen and Jaina Solo on many of their adventures. I hope that you all will learn a lot from him."

The group of Jedi began to talk excitedly amongst themselves.

Tahiri continued, "While I will be your main teacher, Lowbacca will help you develop your combat ability.

"All of the other groups have already moved on toward their designated buildings to be assigned quarters. You were not split into groups randomly, but by ability. Consider yourselves the advanced class. Your training will be much more difficult than that of the other classes. There are still too few Jedi to maintain peace throughout the galaxy, and though many of you are still quite young, YOU ARE NEEDED!"

Tahiri paused to let that thought sink in then continued, "You, as well as the other classes, are the future. It is our hope that after a period of five years each and every one of you will have proven yourselves worthy of the title of Jedi Knight!"

That got a few gasps from the group of twenty.

Tahiri smiled at this and went on, "After a period of about two years you will all be made padawans and assigned to certain Jedi Knights or Masters, accompanying them on missions and learning from them in general."

Now the little group looked really excited.

"One final thing," Tahiri said, "tomorrow you will be given your first test, and I believe it is one you are all going to enjoy. Now follow Lowbacca and he'll show you where you will be staying, have fun exploring, and sleep well!" Tahiri waved as she jogged back toward the ships that had brought them here.

Denz and the others smiled expectantly. They knew what their first assignment would be, and Tahiri was right, they would enjoy it.

Lowbacca roared and started off in the direction of one of the larger buildings. The young Jedi walked quickly to keep up with the wookie's long, powerful stride. Within moments the group was at the entrance to their living quarters. Lowbacca pressed a button on the control pad and the door swished open. The doorway was not designed for a wookie, so Lowbacca had to duck to get through, and the rest followed him in. The main lobby was a large dome-like room with windows all around its base as well as in the center of the semi-sphere on top. This part of the building served as both the communications center and the lounge as the plush couches around the perimeter and many computers indicated. At the opposite end of the room from the entrance was a door, the only other way out of that area. As the young Jedi and their guide crossed the vast chamber, that door suddenly opened, and into the room walked a silver-plated protocol droid.

"Greetings and salutations," the droid called to the young Jedi as they approached. "My name is M-TD, translator droid. I am programmed to act as translator for Master Lowbacca until you are able to understand him yourself."

Lowbacca growled and moaned a reply. He then made a sound like laughter.

"Oh!" M-TD exclaimed. "That was completely uncalled for. Just think if the children had understood what you…." The protocol droid seemed to suddenly remember that the twenty or so young Jedi were still standing there, waiting to be shown to their rooms. M-TD composed himself and made a noise that sounded like he was clearing his throat. "My humblest apologies," he began, "but sometimes, correction, MANY times this hairy buffoon will act more like an animal than a Jedi Knight."

Lowbacca rolled his yellow-green eyes and made a noise like a sigh.

Denz, Jyo, Cordell and Zeek were fighting to control their laughter. To them this was their first lesson in understanding wookies, and it taught that though they may not look a lot like humans, the mannerisms of a wookie are none too different.

"Now," M-TD continued, "please follow me, and I will show you to your rooms." The shiny protocol droid turned and walked back toward the door from which he had come, servo-motors whirring every time he moved his legs.

The group entered a long hallway as M-TD led them through the doorway. On each side of the hallway were twelve doors. "Each and every one of these doors leads to the rooms where you will be staying," M-TD told the young Jedi.

At the end of the hallway were two extra large turbolifts. "These will take you up to the classroom. Although much of your training will take place outdoors, all of yours studies will be held upstairs."

The group of twenty-two split up equally and each took a turbolift up to the classroom. The classroom itself, it turns out, was not that large. It was just big enough for twenty or so students. A door on the far side of the room was marked with the sign "Library", and on one wall was a list that designated whose room was whose on the first floor. M-TD told the children to memorize their room numbers for later. They only had one more stop to make and then the young Jedi would be free to explore their new home. M-TD led them back down the turbolifts but instead of stopping at the first floor, he had the lifts continue on down underground. The doors opened into a large, cavernous room lined on three walls, from floor to ceiling, with parts, pieces, and tools.

Jyo glanced at Denz. He could literally feel the excitement radiating from his body as his mind began to process all the possibilities, experiments, and creations.

"This," M-TD explained, "is where you will find all the parts you will ever need to construct anything you can think of. You are allowed to use the worktables provided here, but you are also free to take anything you like to your rooms. Now let us retreat back upstairs so that you can get settled into your rooms."

Zeek noticed that Denz looked a little disappointed, but he also knew that if he had a choice, Denz would choose to make this his room.

The turbolifts traveled up one floor and the Jedi Students dispersed as they found their rooms. Denz and Jyo's rooms were side-by-side, as well as adjacent to Cordell and Zeek's respectively. Each was amazed at the size of each room, roughly three times larger than their quarters back on the space station, where the brothers had to bunk together. The rooms contained basic necessities, such as bed, dresser, and refresher; but other than those three things, which took up about a quarter of the room's space, the rest was empty.

Denz imagined filling up that space with gadget after gadget. Jyo visualized himself with his lightsaber, creating and practicing combinations and strategies. Zeek and Cordell saw private duels being held in their rooms. The future looked bright for these young keepers of the peace. But might things get cloudy and threaten to destroy life as they know it? Only time will tell.

The slightly damaged speeder sped over an open field, a little too open for Jaina's tastes, but it was the most direct route to her uncle, Luke Skywalker; or at least she hoped so. They had been traveling for quite some time now heading in the general direction of where Ben felt his father. It seemed as though Luke was holding back, not trying to make contact, but they could not understand why.

Jake suddenly spoke up, "I just don't get it!"

Kyp, sitting next to him in the back seat, gave him a sidelong glance.

"I mean about what happened back at the cave."

"What seems to be bothering you Jake," Ben asked reluctantly.

"What I don't get is that when Kyp and Jaina launched their lightning attack, why did they just stun the Vong? Then a minute later you caused an explosion that trapped if not destroyed them altogether."

"Well Jakey-boy," Kyp began, "it's like this. We good Jedi don't believe in using the Force to kill, but we know that to kill we must use force."

Jake said nothing for a moment, and then his expression changed indicating that he just realized what Kyp had said, and that the play on words had fooled him. Noticing this, the other three cracked smiles, and Jake chuckled nervously.

"So," Jaina asked, "are you gonna tell us exactly where to find Master Skywalker, or am I going to have to continue to follow the weak Force readings we're getting from him?"

Jake shook his head and began to give Jaina directions to the _real_ hideout.

Cordell and Zeek burst from their rooms simultaneously, looked each other in the eye, smiled, and then made a mad dash for the exit. They had had enough of the indoors; it was time to enjoy all that their new home had to offer. Jyo remained in his room a little longer trying to think up some lightsaber strategies, but realized it was futile. He loved to experience real air and gravity and couldn't wait to find a nice spot to meditate and feel the throbbing Force coming from the ground, the air, and the trees. Jyo quickly wiped the lenses of his glasses clean and exited his room. He turned left, took a few steps, and stopped in front of the door to Denz's room. He knocked.

"Yeah."

"It's me," Jyo called through the door.

Denz slid the door open and asked, "What's up?"

"Want to go outside and meditate or just breathe some fresh air?"

"Nah," Denz replied shaking his head, "I think I'll just stay in here and start working on the designs for a new gadget. Just something I can put in my room so it doesn't feel so empty."

Jyo shrugged, "Your loss. Good luck," he said with a wave. Jyo started off after Cordell and Zeek as Denz closed his door.

Denz didn't have much luck though, sitting on his bed trying to think of the parts necessary to make his new idea come to life. He huffed a sigh of disgust, "Maybe I'll be able to think better with more people around," he said to himself. Denz left his room after all and poked his head through the door to the lounge. There were a couple students in the room either on a computer or reading one of the books from the library upstairs. Denz noticed someone at a table with paper and a pencil and decided to go see if he was doing something interesting. As he approached the kid, Denz recognized him. With his shoulder length, black hair pulled into a ponytail and short stature he was impossible to mistake. His name was Todan Ems. Denz had seen him just like this on the space station many times. Todan seemed to spend as much time drawing as he did training to be a Jedi. "Hey, Todan!"

The black haired boy glanced up from his work and gave Denz the peace sign, his traditional greeting. Denz sat down across from Todan and asked him what he was drawing now. Instead of answering, Todan turned his sheet of paper around and slid it toward Denz. He took one glance at it and gave a low whistle. Though all around the edges of the paper were little doodles, right in the center was what looked like very detailed specs for a lightsaber.

"Looks nice Todan, but aren't we supposed to use the Force to guide us through the construction of our weapons?"

Todan finally spoke, "I know that's how we're supposed to do it, but I figure if I get stuck all I have to do is glance at this and it'll put me back on track."

Denz shook his head, "Whatever you say, Todan."

The door to the outside opened and Jyo walked back in. Denz called to him, "Hey, Jyo! Tired of all that fresh air yet?"

Jyo just shook his head and left the room via the door to the hallway and the turbolifts.

Denz shrugged and turned back to Todan, "I guess you also figured out that our first assignment was to construct lightsabers, huh?"

Todan nodded.

"You going to make any special modifications on yours?"

"Uh, no."

"Do you want some?"

Todan looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"OK, OK. Just thought I'd ask."

Jyo saw Denz still talking to the same kid. _Wonder who he is?_ Jyo thought. He put the question aside and went back out into the noontime sunshine again. He turned right, went halfway around the building, sat back down in his previous spot, and leaned up against the outer wall. Before opening his book, Jyo glanced up and saw Cordell running full tilt across the grassy plain that surrounded the five or six buildings. He was obviously enjoying all the space he had to move around. _Maybe this is the answer to the releasing of Cordell's energy._ Jyo smiled, _One can only hope. _Jyo opened his book, but something caught his eye before he began to read. He looked closer and, sure enough, it was Zeek practicing his levitation. Jyo recalled that Zeek never wanted to levitate himself at the Installation for fear of falling to the hard metal floor. Now, though he looked a little wobbly, Zeek was hovering a good three feet off the ground. Jyo chuckled when Zeek finally lost it and plopped to the ground, then he settled into his book about the ancient Jedi Counsel, Jedi Masters such as Yoda and Mace Windu, and read of the adventures of great warriors like Obi-Wan Kenobi.

He didn't know why, but when he sat here the first time and let himself fall into the Force, he was overcome with an urge to read about Jedi history. As a result, he had rushed back inside and continued up to the library on the second floor. Jyo had felt himself almost drawn to the very book he picked out. Now, illuminated by Jedron's sun he sat reading it on the cool grass, leaning up against the building that acted as his new home. And as he read, it felt as though he was transported to that place and time and was actually watching the events in the book play out before his very eyes.

Cordell stumbled, fell, and rolled, as he laughed hard at Zeek falling on his rear. He was still laughing as he pulled himself upright and shook the grass from his blond hair. Zeek saw Cordell laughing and scowled. This made Cordell laugh even harder so that his eyes watered. He wiped his eyes dry and as soon as he opened them a large dirt clod hit him right smack on the forehead, knocking him over backward. Cordell looked up with a surprised expression on his face and saw Zeek, about ten dirt clods hovering around him, ready to fire. Cordell scrambled up and started running again as he was pelted from behind with Zeek's dirt clods of revenge.

Soon, a couple other young Jedi took sides and a small dirt clod war began. Jyo was impervious to it all, however. That is, until he got clocked with a stray clod.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Right at the end of the battle, the other nine Jedi students began to concentrate all of their fire at Zeek, who had proven quite hard to hit. When he wasn't throwing dirt clods with the Force, he was using larger clumps of dirt to block those thrown at him. When all nine started pitching clods at him mercilessly, Zeek literally dropped everything. His ammo clods and his shield clumps fell to the ground. He was facing the other nine, who had paused in their onslaught when Zeek had dropped his defenses. Not wanting Zeek to get off so easily by surrendering, the nine, including Jyo and Cordell, smiled mischievously. Each one then gathered three dirt clods in front of themselves and then launched all twenty-seven of them at once. Zeek spread his legs and braced himself. He raised both hands over his head palms open and facing up. The twenty-seven dirt clods quickly closed the gap. Just when the front most one came within two feet of Zeek, he swung his arms down so that his open palms faced the bombardment, and pushed hard at all the dirt clods. All twenty-seven of them stopped instantly. Then, just as suddenly, all twenty-seven started moving again … twice as fast … in the opposite direction! Jyo, Cordell and the others had no time to react, as each and every one was pelted with exactly three dirt clods. And then it was over. Zeek stood victorious, if not exhausted. The nine he had returned the dirt clods to, sat up and began to laugh, and Zeek joined them. They simply enjoyed the moment of being kids and not Jedi. As Zeek approached the others, they cheered. Many besides Jyo and Cordell slapped him on the back and congratulated him. They all commented on how impressive his abilities were. They had known Zeek was strong in the Force, but now with all this space available, they were able to see his full potential. Zeek blushed and took the praise modestly, just nodding and smiling. They waited for Jyo to return from retrieving his book then headed back to what they had decided to call a Jome, or Jedi home.

The ten young Jedi, covered in dirt and grass, trudged back inside their new home. The only one that looked none the worse for wear was Zeek. They entered the almost empty lounge of the Jome.

Zeek said he was going to hang out and mess around on the computers a little bit before going to bed. "No offense you guys," Zeek said with a grin, "but you all need a bath."

Jyo, Cordell, and the others looked at their dirty, grass-stained clothes and laughed. They waved at Zeek as they headed toward their rooms.

Jyo looked around, but Denz and that other kid were not among those remaining in the lounge. He followed the rest of the Jedi students through the far doorway. Cordell said good night and went inside his room. Before doing so himself, Jyo knocked on Denz's door and received no answer. Assuming he had gone to bed, Jyo decided to do the same. He sniffed. "Phew! Just as soon as I get the stink out of my clothes and off my body! Man I reek!" Jyo shook his head and made a mental note not to get into a dirt clod war with Zeek again. With that he entered his room, tossed his clothes into the cleaner inside the refresher, and took a shower before climbing, exhausted into bed.

Lowbacca shooed all the young Jedi, including Zeek out of the lounge, motioning for them to get to bed. He code locked the door to the lounge and growled a good night to the last few young Jedi. Zeek, not knowing Jyo had done the same, also knocked on Denz's door to say good night and got no reply. Zeek sighed and thought about pelting Denz with dirt clods. He entered his room and wondered if he would be able to sleep in a new place on the first night. It turns out that the Force radiated in such a way on this planet that, if you let it, it would lull you to sleep. As a result, it was not long until Zeek was off sawing Z's, which had greatly stressed Denz who once shared a room with him.

Denz, however, was not in his room as the others had thought. In the basement of the Jome, Denz was piling parts and pieces onto one of the worktables. When he was sure he had everything he needed, Denz removed his outer cloak and laid it on the floor. He then placed all that he had gathered in the center of the cloak. Denz folded the cloak in such a way that it acted as a sack. He slung it over his shoulder and almost fell over backward from the weight of his load. He concentrated on using the Force to make the sack lighter as he inched his way toward one of the turbolifts. Denz laid the sack on the floor of the turbolift and rode it up to the main floor. When the turbolift door slid open he realized that everyone else had been sent to bed. He checked his chronometer. Curfew was ten minutes ago! The hallway was only dimly lit by emergency lights every two or three doorways. He focused again on making the bag lighter as he quickly walked three-quarters of the length of the hallway to his room, his boots on the metal floor the only sound. He was in front of Jyo's door when he heard another sound, a beep, coming from the door to the lounge. Not wanting to be caught out of his room after curfew, Denz picked up the pace for the last few feet and hustled into his room, his door swishing closed just as the one to the lounge slid open.

Tahiri stepped through the doorway and re-encoded the lock. Her bare feet made no sound as she walked down the hallway toward her room. She thought she had heard something that sounded like metal hitting metal, and assumed it was the climate control adjusting to the lower temperatures outside. Tahiri approached her room, positioned across from Lowbacca's and next to the turbolifts. She stepped up to her door and then jumped back. It felt as though she had stepped on something. Tahiri reached down with her left hand, swept the floor just in front of her right foot, and found it. She held it up to one of the emergency lights and saw that it was a small piece of wire. Tahiri shook her head. Only Denz would be into the stuff downstairs already. She tucked the piece of wire into a pocket on her jumpsuit, rubbed her bare foot where she had stepped on the wire, and entered her room. It had been a long day.

"First thing's first," Jake Microx was saying. "Stop reaching out to your father; there is a reason he is not responding."

"OK, so what's the reason?" Ben wanted to know.

Jake seemed to struggle for an answer, "Well, actually … I don't know."

"What do you mean 'you don't know'?"

"Luke didn't really trust me enough to tell me anything specific, only that if you kept yourself small in the Force "IT" wouldn't find you. As close as I can figure, the Vong have created another sort of super warrior."

Kyp began to reply, but Jake cut him off, "I know what you're gonna ask, and no, the Vong never told me anything about it either because THEY didn't trust me." Jake shook his head, "Ironic isn't it? I worked for both sides and yet I know the least about it."

"You said that in the past tense," Jaina acknowledged. "I suppose that means you want to rejoin the ranks of the Jedi."

"Of course! I mean if Master Skywalker lets me."

They rode in silence for a ways. The forest that Jake had directed them to became swampier. Over the treetops ahead the four Jedi saw what looked like stone structures. They left the cover of the swamp-forest and entered a clearing where several of the magnificent structures stood. There were five in all. Two had collapsed into a heap of rubble, and the other three were almost completely covered over with moss and plant life. Each temple, as Jake referred to them, was about seventy-five to one hundred meters tall. From afar they probably looked a lot like mountains as they greatly outstood the twenty-meter trees. Jake pointed them to a crevice in the closest temple. Inside there were a couple of other speeders. Jake said this was their "garage". They exited the vehicle and left the cover of the temple on foot.

"Wait a minute," Jaina said as they walked down a rough path that led them between the giant structures. "You must have at least seen this new threat on your scouting missions."

Jake smiled meekly and shook his head, "Master Skywalker was the only one to ever actually see this new weapon. In my scouting missions I always got to the sites of the attacks too late and only saw the wake of destruction and death." He shrugged, "Master Skywalker and his wife were the only two to actually live to tell about it. I confess that after seeing the Yuuzhan Vong once again display such power I began to doubt the successfulness of our fight. I thought I was choosing the easy way out when I formed an alliance with the Vong who are always looking for Jedi that are willing to assist them."

"Then my father showed up," Ben added.

"Right. And I thought 'What better way to prove my loyalty to the Vong than to deliver their enemy's leader into their hands?'"

"I take it things didn't go as planned."

"He didn't say it, but I knew Skywalker didn't trust me. I immediately put a block on my mind so he couldn't see what I was planning. Needless to say that made him more wary of me. When we received word that Jag Fel was sending help to back up our team, we had no idea he was talking about you three. Master Skywalker said, in so many words, that if I wanted to prove that I was loyal to the Jedi Order, I would have to go and bring the reinforcements back to base without revealing the location."

"It sounds like he trusted you enough to give you that job."

"Oh, don't worry. He told me if he even smelled a trick that he and the rest would be long gone before I got back."

Jake stopped in front of what looked like a pile of moss and shrubs. He swept some aside to reveal what looked like an ancient well, "There is a ladder on the one side there, or you can do it the easy way and jump dooown!" Jake yelled at the top of his lungs when Jaina nudged him into the hole.

"Oops," Jaina said with an innocent look on her face.

"You're bad," Kyp said with a laugh.

Down in the well they heard a splash and an "OW!"

Jaina called down, "Thanks for checking for traps, Jake."

They could hear Jake mumble something like "very funny", and then the other three followed suit and jumped into the hole. They used the Force to steady themselves as they floated down about ten feet. The three set down in a shallow pool and saw a disgruntled Jake Microx rubbing his rear. Jaina smiled sweetly, and Jake snorted, "Come on," he said gruffly as he headed down a sparsely lit tunnel. It was dank and smelled of mildew. There was much moisture in the surrounding soil making their boots slosh every step they took. They reached an intersection where the main tunnel branched off into three smaller shafts. Without hesitating, Jake reached above the tunnel on the right and depressed a secret switch. This made the floor drop out in the center of the room. Jake motioned toward the hole, "Ladies first," he said with a smirk.

Jaina gave him a sarcastic smile back and jumped in. Ben followed, but Kyp refused to go until after Jake did. With a sigh Jake hopped in and Kyp a second later. At the bottom of this shaft Jake depressed another button resealing the hidden door above. The tunnel they were now in was manmade. The walls, floor and ceiling were all metal. You could go left or right in this tunnel. Jake started going left without a word. The hallway made a right at one point, but Jake didn't turn right.

"Make a wrong turn?" Kyp asked Jake.

Instead of answering, Jake placed both hands, palms flat on the wall in front of them. Jaina, Kyp and Ben look at one another and raised their eyebrows. _Has Jake lost it?_

Suddenly, the wall in front of them shot up and revealed a room filled with computers, personnel, and two dire looking Jedi.

"Hello, Jake," Luke Skywalker said with a sad expression on his face.

"We have much to talk about," Mara added from beside him.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The next morning around seven, Jedron time, an alarm was sounded, awakening all the young Jedi. All except for one.

Jyo pounded on Denz's door, "C'mon, Denz! Wake up!"

Tahiri stood in front of the turbolifts and called to the students, "Please head outside of the--," she paused and asked one of the Jedi students what it was they had called their new home.

"A Jome," a young bothan female answered, her fur bristling as she smiled.

"Right," Tahiri nodded. "We will be eating morning meal outdoors today because we are having such fair weather."

The students began to file out of the hallway, into the lounge, and out the exit door. Zeek and Cordell followed. Jyo remained, still pounding on Denz's door. Tahiri approached the door and inquired as to the problem.

"He's just a heavy sleeper," Jyo sighed, shook his head in dismay, and then smiled. It was just impossible not to crack a grin when you talked to Tahiri.

The barefoot Jedi teacher returned his smile, "Please continue trying to wake him," she said and at a sudden thought, reached in one of her jumpsuit's pockets, and pulled out a piece of wire. "And when he does finally rouse, could you ask him if he lost this? I found it last night outside my door."

Jyo's eyes grew wide when he saw the wire. He hoped Tahiri didn't notice. "Sure, I'll ask him," he said trying not to sound nervous.

Tahiri smiled again and without another word, walked off to join Lowbacca and the other Jedi students outside.

Jyo was steamed, _Dang it, Denz! You've been here one night and already you're oversleeping because you stayed up till who knows when making some stupid gadget!_

Jyo was mad, and he channeled that energy into scanning Denz's room. He found Denz's Force signature in bed, of course. Jyo knew what he had to do. He focused on the energy signature and slowly lifted it. He decided to give Denz one more chance and dropped him from two feet off the floor. Denz seemed to stir, but he did not waken. Jyo picked Denz back up and moved him into the refresher. He dropped him once more, this time into the shower unit. No reaction. With one final Force motion, Jyo turned the cold water on full blast.

Outside, the young Jedi sat in a circle, waiting for the droids to bring their breakfast. They heard a distant sound that resembled a rather large bird's call. The eighteen students and two teachers scanned the sky for some giant flying creature. When they saw none, the students credited the noise to a ship engine or something mechanical.

Jyo was fighting laughter as he listened to Denz's running footsteps race to his door. When the door slid open, Jyo couldn't contain himself any longer. Standing in front of him, soaking wet was a very, very unhappy Denz Solo, who had apparently fallen asleep in his Jedi garb. Robe, undershirt, pants and boots were all drenched and dripping water. "Don't move!" Denz said through gritted teeth as he shut his door again.

Jyo composed himself enough to hear the drying unit running in Denz room. A few moments later, Denz emerged clad now in freshly dried Jedi clothes. Jyo thought he looked shorter. Glancing down, he realized that Denz wasn't wearing any boots.

As if reading Jyo's thoughts Denz said, "I can't put my boots in the dryer unit. It'll ruin them."

Jyo nodded and remembering that the piece of wire was still in his hand, gave it to Denz.

"I wondered where that went."

Denz went to put the wire on his desk, and Jyo stood amazed. If someone had done to Jyo what Jyo had just done to Denz, he would never have taken it so calmly. After the initial shock, Denz seemed to revert back to his normal, cheery self.

"Hey, Jyo."

Jyo jumped. He had not seen Denz come back out of his room, so he was surprised to see him standing there next to him all of the sudden.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"What's pretty cool?" Jyo asked baffled.

"This," Denz said spreading his arms. "It's a hologram."

"It looks so real!" Jyo said in awe.

"And you probably thought I was up all night making something stupid."

Jyo wondered if it was possible that Denz had picked that thought from his mind, but he knew that wasn't Denz's style. Jyo suddenly slapped his forehead in remembrance. "Denz! Breakfast! Now!"

The hologram displayed a surprised expression before dissipating. Denz burst from his room, and he and Jyo rushed outside. Denz grinned to himself as he ran, _He bought it! Jyo actually thinks I was up all last night making a hologram answering machine._

_I'll keep it a secret for now. He'll know when …,"_ Denz thoughts were interrupted as they emerged from the Jome. Luckily the robots were just arriving with the food. Jyo and Denz quickly found seats.

Tahiri had looked up when the two finally arrived and noticed Denz's bare feet. She walked over and touched his shoulder; "Flattery is not necessary, Denz. I forgive you for oversleeping."

Denz blushed a deep red and said nothing, while the other young Jedi giggled.

The meals provided were small but full of protein. They consisted of three scrambled nantsil eggs and a large piece of bantha steak, cooked to perfection.

The young Jedi finished their meal and sat patting their stomachs in satisfaction. After the dishes and such had been cleared away, Tahiri rose and stood outside of the circle of students. Today she wore her lightsaber clipped to her belt, and when Tahiri began to speak, she held it out for everyone to see. "Today you will be given a most important task." She ignited the green blade that matched the color of her eyes. "The construction of your lightsabers is a crucial step in the process of becoming an apprentice and eventually a Jedi Knight.

"There is no guide to follow in constructing a lightsaber. The process is purely instinct. Allow the Force to guide your hands and show you where to put what and so on.

"Not to put pressure on you or anything, but those who are unable to complete their lightsabers within the allotted twelve hour time limit will be deemed "not ready" for the responsibility and, as a result, be dropped from this class and reassigned to the next one down.

"If that statement has made any of you worry or feel nervous then you should tell me now. Acknowledging that you are not ready for such an important responsibility shows great wisdom and courage. Perhaps it is not your destiny to become a Jedi Knight." Tahiri speculated as she deactivated her lightsaber and clipped it back to her belt. "Maybe you feel your calling lies elsewhere."

Tahiri spread her arms, encompassing all twenty Jedi students. "Do not feel as though you are being pressured into Jedi Knighthood. Jedi Healers, Teachers, Pilots, Diplomats and more are also needed in addition to the warriors. And no, you will not be dropped from this class if you come forward now and express your desire to serve the Jedi cause differently."

No one moved at first. Then a lanky Twi'lek named Tay Norat'k slowly stood and stepped toward Tahiri. "Teacher," she began, "I humbly submit that I have felt a strong pull toward learning the art of a Jedi Healer." Tay's headtails twitched nervously as she spoke to Tahiri.

Tahiri squatted slightly so that she was eye to eye with Tay. "Are you positive that the Force has led you not to become a Jedi Knight, but a Jedi Healer?"

Tay nodded with the most confidence she could muster.

Tahiri stood to her full height, "Very well then! Tay Norat'k, you have my word that as soon as possible you will be made the apprentice of a Jedi Healer. Until then you may study and learn to your heart's content about this crucial position!"

Tay smiled and whispered her thanks to Tahiri.

Tahiri turned her gaze from Tay back to the rest of the Jedi students.

"Anyone else? Do not be afraid. Go where the Force leads you as Tay has done."

When no one else stood Tahiri frowned thoughtfully, but quickly hid that behind a smile. "Very good." She said plainly. "Now you will each receive your own focusing crystal necessary for the construction of your lightsabers. As I call your name, please come forward and receive it from Tay. If she would do the honors, that is."

The Twi'lek was clearly surprised as her pale skin turned bright red. She nodded and mumbled, "I would be delighted!"

At a signal from Tahiri a droid carrying a covered tray trundled up to her. She removed the cloth to reveal almost two-dozen clear plastic cases, round in shape, each containing a small crystal.

Tay picked one up and held it in her fragile hands as Tahiri called the first name. "Nayanll Omm!"

The small female Bothan jumped up from where she was sitting and walked quickly to Tay and received her crystal. She emitted a rumble of excitement from deep within her throat, and moved to stand to the right of Tay.

"Zeek Solo!"

Zeek almost seemed surprised that his name had been called. He shakily stood and went to receive his crystal from Tay. Zeek blushed when he received a smile from her as well. He then went to stand on the right of Nayanll.

"Todan Ems!"

The Jedi artist rose and received his crystal as well. After moving to stand next to Zeek, he held the crystal up to the light trying to discern every line and curve of the jewel.

"Salah Jem!"

The human girl with red hair the same shade as Tahiri's, but more tamed, stood and though she walked calmly, her eyes betrayed her excitement as Tay gave her the precious crystal.

And so the ceremony went until the remaining nineteen Jedi had received their crystals and stood, shoulder to shoulder, holding their prizes.

Lowbacca, who had been quiet throughout the entire ordeal, gave a roar of joy, startling several young Jedi as others chuckled.

Tahiri moved to stand so that she faced all the Jedi students. "This is likely the last time we will see each other for at least a day or two, for when you begin construction on your lightsabers I will be transported deep within that forest over there." She told them, pointing to a distant density of trees.

"Upon completing your Jedi weapons, you must set off in search of me using the Force to guide you. You may not wait for others to join you, and you may not test your lightsaber before leaving the Jome. Those who do so will be automatically failed. Lowbacca will ensure that you each receive a pack of rations and a canteen. I will not tell you what comes next until you have found my 'hiding place'. Now go! May the Force guide your hands and your feet."

With that, the young Jedi rushed back inside to construct their lightsabers. The clock was ticking, and even if they did finish in time, who knew what was lying in wait for them inside the forest?


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Mara Jade Skywalker embraced her only son in a relieved hug as Luke mussed his brown hair. Despite the joyous reunion, however, the tone remained somber. Jake Microx stood, hands at his sides, facing those he had betrayed.

Luke Skywalker could sense the fear in Jake, but more prominent was his shame and anger. He was ashamed of his actions and angry with himself for betraying his heritage. One thing Luke could tell just by looking at Jake was that he longed to be forgiven, and that he would do anything to earn it. "Jake."

The repentant Jedi looked up at the mention of his name. "Jake," Luke said again, "although you put three members of my family in a situation where they could have lost their lives and threatened the security of this mission and all those involved in it, I forgive you."

Jake went bug-eyed and his jaw dropped. Even Kyp and Jaina glanced at Luke and raised their eyebrows. Mara didn't hesitate though, "As do I."

"I forgive you as well," Ben added.

When Kyp and Jaina did not speak, Luke turned to them and asked them directly, "Do you not think Jake is deserving of our forgiveness?"

"Well," Jaina began, "he did lead us to you in the end, and he seems genuinely sorry for what he did. Okay," she said as she turned to Jake, "I forgive you also."

Jake seemed on the verge of tears. "WHY?" he burst. "How can you forgive me after that nightmare I put you all through? HOW?!"

"We are not the Yuuzhan Vong, Jake." Luke stood and put his hands on Jakes shoulders. Jake was not a small man but Luke still stood a head taller than him. "I believe in second chances. I gave the Emperor's right-hand man, Darth Vader, a second chance and he took it. He had fallen in love with the dark side, but there was still good in him. In his last hour, Vader turned from his evil ways to save my life. Now if I gave a man like Vader a second chance, why should you not be granted the same privilege?"

"He was your father!"

"Ahh, but that's where you're wrong." Luke pointed out. "Darth Vader was not my father. He was the darkness that had taken over my father, Anakin Skywalker. I gave Vader an opportunity to release my father, which he took; in the end."

Luke turned from Jake and looked at Kyp, who still had not answered. Kyp caught the glance and nodded. "Jake, I am still not willing to forgive you for what you did, but I am more than ready to give you a second chance."

Luke smiled and turned back to Jake, who finally seemed to be recovering from the initial shock, "Th- tha- thank you Master Skywalker, and all of you as well," he said looking past Luke at the others. "You have no idea how much that means to me."

The nineteen Jedi students crowded into the two turbolifts and took them down to the workshop. The more technically apt students like Denz, Salah, Todan, and Jyo collected the parts that they needed to construct their lightsabers and went up to their respective rooms to build them; while the rest of the students remained in the workshop, each tinkering away at their own worktable.

Denz laid the pieces out in front of him on his desk, decided it didn't feel right, and dumped them on the floor instead. He flopped to the ground and sat cross-legged. Denz cracked his fingers and closed his eyes, letting himself get in tune with the Force. Without opening his eyes, Denz's hands began darting for pieces he sensed he needed them through the Force. Within minutes, he had the outer case completed. A smile of pure contentment formed on his face as he began constructing the chamber that would house the focusing crystal.

The construction of Salah Jem's lightsaber was a tad more tedious because she was not too skilled in the use of a multitool. Although mechanically able when it came to understanding machines, the only way she could construct them properly was to use the Force to turn screws or weld two pieces together. The red-haired girl sat on her bed, concentrating hard on making a crucial connection. Salah smiled in satisfaction and wiped the sweat from her brow as she finished inserting the power source in the end of the hilt. Next came connecting it to the power stud.

Jyo licked his lips as he maneuvered his multitool to connect a wire to the crystal chamber, careful not to damage the crystal in any way. As he reached for the power source, the sleeve of his Jedi robe caught on the chamber and knocked it off of the desk. Jyo almost yelled out loud as he caught it with the Force only centimeters from the floor. He grabbed it from its floating position and placed it back on the desk. Jyo exhaled deeply, realizing he had been holding his breath. He sat there for a second to give himself a chance to calm down and refocus on the task at hand.

Todan had finished his outer case and began to engrave little doodles on the outside. He also stuck a smiley-face sticker on the bottom of the hilt. Before he began the more delicate parts of his sword, Todan made sure he put on his lucky smiley-face earring. He nodded his head, satisfied that he was ready to continue, and got back to work.

Denz completed his lightsaber after two hours had passed. It had proven a far greater challenge than he had expected. Not to mention the fact that he had added one or two little extra things. He held the hilt in his hands. It was fairly simple in design. A rubber-like material was used for the grip, above which was the power stud. The two small knobs on the bottom were the only odd things on it. The purpose of these knobs was to allow adjustment to the length and width of the lightsaber blade, to a certain degree.

Denz gripped the yet-to-be-tested lightsaber in his right hand. The urge to ignite the blade was overwhelming, but he mustered all of his self-restraint, not wanting to blow it after having come this far.

He exited his room after making sure his "secret project" was safely tucked away, and slipping his now dry boots back on. The hallway outside was empty and deathly quiet. Denz moved quickly through the door to the lounge. At the door to the outside sat Lowbacca. He looked up from the book he was reading and urged Denz to come to him. As Denz approached, Lowbacca held out his hair-covered hand. Not sure what he wanted, Denz raised an eyebrow in a questioning look. Lowbacca shook his head and pointed to Denz's lightsaber in his hand.

"OH!" Denz exclaimed as he handed it to the anxious Wookiee.

Lowbacca took it and brought the hilt close to his face. He looked in the business end of the lightsaber, sniffed it twice, nodded in satisfaction, and handed it back to Denz who was mystified by this performance.

"There is supposedly a residual smell left when a lightsaber is ignited," M-TD said as he crossed the room and startled Denz who had not heard him enter. "I say 'supposedly' because no analysis has ever picked up any kind of scent that differed from before one was ignited. Master Lowbacca claims that his sense of smell is acute enough to …"

Lowbacca interrupted the droid's ongoing chatter with a moan.

"Well I know you didn't use those exact words; you aren't nearly articulate enough, but in essence …"

The Wookiee Jedi cut him off again with a sharp bark.

Before M-TD could retort, Denz cleared his throat to get their attention.

Not giving M-TD a chance to insult him further in front of Denz, Lowbacca quickly handed him a pack of rations and a canteen. The Wookiee then gently, but firmly shoved Denz out the door! He began to laugh as he heard M-TD continue to rant on the other side of the door. Denz slid his lightsaber up the right arm of his Jedi robe and attached it to a forearm clip he had designed; he then stuck his arms through the straps on the pack, tightened the straps so that it hugged his back, and set off at a steady pace towards the forest Tahiri had indicated two hours earlier. He wondered how the other young Jedi were doing, and hoped that they would all finish in time. Denz put these thoughts aside as he reached out with the Force, expanding his range. Besides the mass of signatures back in the Jome, the only outstanding Force signal he was picking up was deep in the forest, shining like a beacon, leading his way. _Ready or not, Tahiri, here I come._

Half an hour later, Todan stepped out of his room with his lightsaber attached to a small pack on his back. In addition to this, he now sported small, circular shades balanced precariously on the edge of his nose, a white t-shirt, and cargo pants. He lumbered out into the lounge, taking his time and whistling _Duel of Fates_. He approached Lowbacca, who also performed the sniff test on Todan's hilt. When he handed the young Jedi the pack of rations, Todan removed the energy bars from the pack and loaded his pockets with them. He then took the canteen and slung it over his shoulder. Giving Lowbacca and M-TD the "Peace" sign, Todan exited the Jome and began trekking toward the Forest.

After he had left, M-TD said, "That boy is quite … odd."

Lowbacca nodded and growled an agreement.

Not ten minutes after Todan started on his way did Salah Jem, her red hair tied back in a bun, exit her room and walked quickly toward the door to the lounge. Just as she was passing Jyo's room, the door swished open, Jyo rushed out, and ran right into her. They fell down in a heap.

"Hey!" Salah exclaimed. "Watch where you're going!"

Jyo blushed with embarrassment as he climbed to his feet and offered to help her up.

"Thanks," she said with a hint of sarcasm as she grabbed his offered hand and was hoisted her to her feet. She brushed herself off and continued toward the lounge without another word.

Jyo followed in embarrassed silence.

Lowbacca grinned wide when he saw not one, but two Jedi students step into the lounge. He examined both of their lightsabers at once. After which, they clipped them back to their belts, Jyo's on his side, and Salah's behind her back. The still grinning Wookiee then handed them food and water for their journey.

Jyo noticed that the normally talkative, silver protocol droid, M-TD had been unusually silent. He took a closer look and realized that the droid's photoreceptors were off, meaning he was in shutdown mode. Once the two young Jedi had stepped outside, Lowbacca flipped a switch on the back of M-TD, awakening him.

"Oh! What did I miss?" The droid queried.

The playful Wookiee chuffed at the trick he had pulled on the protocol droid.

"I say! I don't see what's so funny!"

Outside, Jyo and Salah jogged side by side toward the forest. They saw someone ahead of them, and caught up to Todan after a couple minutes. He flashed them the "Peace" sign, while nibbling on a ration bar, and did not increase his pace. They waved as they went past and entered the forest a full five minutes before him. Now the fun would begin!


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Denz stepped cautiously into a small clearing. _A clearing of any size in a forest this packed together is enough to rouse my suspicion, _he thought. In fact, the trees on either side of the clearing were grown so closely together, that it would have taken him quite a while to find another passing point.

The young Jedi sensed no trap, nothing lying in wait for him in the immediate area. Whether he could sense it or not, his gut told him something wasn't right, but not wanting to waste any time, Denz took several steps forward, checking the integrity of the ground before firmly placing his foot there. He paused. Except for the squawk of a bird nestled in a nearby tree, all was quiet.

Denz was almost halfway there now as he picked up the pace and began to walk quicker. Just as he reached the midpoint, the ground fell away beneath his feet! Sensing it a mere second before it happened, Denz pushed off in a Force aided jump toward the opposite end of the clearing. He fell just short of the other side as he slammed full force into the far end of the vast pit, knocking his pack of rations open and spilling the contents into the maw. Denz scrabbled for a handhold on the dirt- and grass- covered edge. Finding a purchase, he dug in and stopped his slide into the hole. The Jedi student hung there for several moments, calming himself and catching his breath. After he had built up the energy to continue, Denz hoisted himself up and over the lip of the concealed trap.

He lay on the solid ground exhausted and panting, thankful that he didn't also lose his water canteen. Denz stood up and looked back. The clearing was nothing but one big hole now, and no bottom in sight. _I'll have to take this part of the test more seriously from now on._ Denz brushed the dirt and grass from his hair and clothes, which reminded him why he disliked the outdoors. He checked for any tender spots or bruises that his jump and miss may have caused. Finding none, he tossed his empty pack away, refocused on Tahiri's position, and set off once again.

Jaina, Kyp, Ben, and Jake stared in wide-eyed horror at the display that had been brought up on the screen. The description of "human slave using Vong weapons" was the biggest possible understatement. The only thing remotely resembling a human on the thing they were looking at was the upper body. The head was larger than normal, and the eyes looked like the compound eyes of an insect. Where its arms should have been there were two, five-foot long amphistaffs. The legs looked alien, and the knee joints were backward.

"This," Luke began somberly, "is another example of Yuuzhan Vong shaping. As hard as it may be to believe, this thing was actually a human once.

"In a desperate attempt to create a newer, better Jedi hunting weapon from the voxyn we remember so vividly …"

The six Jedi shivered at the thought of those monsters that could smell Jedi and had killed so many.

"The Vong genetically engineered this," Luke said gesturing at the screen. "We believe the Vong called this a sha'avortk. For convenience, we refer to them as vorts. The splicing of a human's DNA in several ways, it seems, created the vort. The base was human and at least two more elements were spliced into its DNA.

"The head seems to have some characteristics of a voxyn. Poison barbs, which we also believe to be sensory organs, cover the back and top of the head.

"Obviously, the second element is DNA from an amphistaff, transforming the human's arms into the deadly weapons. And yes, these "armphistaffs" so to speak have all of the same characteristics as normal amphistaffs.

"And finally, the legs." Luke paused as he shut off the image. He turned to his audience and shrugged his shoulders in apology. "Unfortunately, analysis so far has not told us anything about the nature of the legs. It could be a side effect from the rearranging of DNA, or it could have been done on purpose." Luke smiled and shrugged again. "As I said, I have no idea."

"And this thing can sense Force users?" Jaina queried.

Luke nodded, "Their senses aren't as acute as the voxyn's was, otherwise we may not be safe anywhere on this planet. Also, the vort is not as aggressive as the voxyn, making it easier for the Vong to control."

"Jake said you fought one of these," Kyp added.

"Yes, and in doing so, I was able to discover a fact that may keep us from being killed right away. Because, I believe, of the human element of the vort, its actions can be sensed, unlike all previous Vong weapons. Despite its appearance, the vort's brain is actually quite strategically brilliant. It has full control over its entire body; even the many facets of the armphistaffs."

"You mean to tell us that you learned all of this just by poking around in this thing's head for a few moments?" Kyp sounded impressed.

Luke just grinned at Kyp's own way of giving praise.

"The old guy's still got it," Jaina said under her breath but loud enough for Luke to hear.

Ben and Kyp chuckled, and Luke gave them a mock look of hurt, to which Mara smothered a laugh.

Even Jake joined in the moment of silliness.

After which, the six Jedi sat down to come up with a plan of action. Somehow they would find a way to liberate Dantooine of the vorts.

Denz was beginning to feel the fatigue from lack of food. He sat down on a patch of moss and took a swig from his canteen. It didn't help much. Denz stopped focusing on Tahiri's location and rested. Because of his exhaustion, Denz did not sense the hooded figure approach him from the cover of the trees.

The young Jedi's eyes flew open at the snap of a twig. He leapt to his feet, causing his head to feel dizzy, and tried to discern exactly what this thing was in front of him.

The creature held out a gloved hand and in a surprisingly high but raspy voice said, "Water."

Denz didn't move at first, and then slowly reached for his canteen. He poured water into the cap and handed it to the stranger.

The hooded figure slurped the liquid thirstily. When he tilted his head back to drink, Denz thought he saw what looked like pink fur. The creature handed the top back to Denz and spoke again, "Thank you for your generosity. In return, I would like to give you this." The hooded creature pulled from beneath his cloak a small paper bag.

Denz raised an eyebrow at this and took the bag. He opened the top and smelled the sweet aroma of chocolate chip cookies.

The stranger's white muzzle grinned as Denz savored every bite of one of the cookies. The hooded stranger watched as Denz took a bite and yelled, "OW!" in surprise. Denz spit out the hard piece into his hand. Covered in cookie dough and chocolate, Denz couldn't make out what it was. When he looked up, the creature with cookies was gone. _Oh well, at least I've got food now._ Denz closed the gap between himself and Tahiri within a half hour.

What Denz saw when he exited the forest was a humongous temple or shrine in a terrible state of disrepair but still standing. In the center of it all was Tahiri, who greeted him warmly and invited Denz to meditate with her until the others arrived.

Denz realized that he was the first one here and decided to take Tahiri up on her offer. He sat down cross-legged next to the Jedi Teacher … and waited.

Cordell was sweating. Not sweat from nervousness, but sweat from frustration and exertion. It had been eleven hours now. He was the only one left in the workshop. Even Zeek had finished and left a couple hours before.

Zeek's chair had scraped the floor as it slid back.

Cordell looked up, "What's are you doing, Zeek?"

The quiet young Jedi held out his completed lightsaber, "I'm done."

Cordell couldn't believe it. In his hands, Zeek held a remarkably small lightsaber handle. It was very sleek and lightweight. Two hands would completely cover the hilt.

Zeek whisked the handle behind his back and clipped it to his belt. He then donned his cloak, and as he passed a slightly miffed Cordell, Zeek put a hand on his shoulder. "I wish you luck, and may the Force be with you." Zeek then exited the workshop via a turbolift.

Cordell was almost sure the Force was not with him as he struggled to decide where a connection should be made. With only a half hour to spare, Cordell sealed the outer case around the components. Looking at it, he realized that it was a bit chunkier than most, but he credited that to the size of the power pack he had used.

In anticipation of constructing his lightsaber, a while back Cordell had fashioned a shoulder strap to hold it. He liked the idea of it being closer than his belt.

Cordell threw on his cloak and raced to the turbolifts. He tapped his foot on the floor in impatience as the turbolift shot up to the first floor. He dashed down the hallway and almost ran into the door to the lounge, forgetting that it did not open automatically. When Cordell finally figured out how to get the door open, he shot into the lounge and almost crashed into the Lowbacca, who had positioned himself in front of the outside door. Cordell skidded to a halt.

Lowbacca gestured at his lightsaber. As Cordell handed it to him, he noticed another human kid sitting on a couch, looking really upset. Before he had time to speculate, Lowbacca handed his lightsaber back, as well as giving him a pack of rations and a canteen.

Cordell slid the lightsaber back into its holder and grabbed the other stuff as he charged out the door. As he ran, Cordell slung the pack onto his back and the canteen around his neck. _This is it! Now that I have a lightsaber, I'll show everyone how powerful I really am._

Jyo and Salah were close; they could feel it. In only a matter of moments, the two would join Tahiri, completing their second test.

What amazed them most was that they had made it all this way without getting split up. Granted, circumstances had come close to doing just that.

From simple disagreements about the best way to go, to a rushing river that almost washed Jyo downstream, the two had remained together. Logic told them that there was safety in numbers so they stuck it out.

Now they walked side by side through what they thought was the last part of the forest. Salah suddenly stopped and grabbed Jyo shoulder. "Listen!" she said.

Jyo did, "I don't hear anything."

"Shh! It's a humming sound."

Jyo switched his goggles to thermograph mode and spotted several small pockets of heat heading toward them.

Within seconds, a dozen small floating orbs surrounded them. All of the orbs began to spin, and one opened fire with low powered laser shots that Jyo ducked. "They're practice orbs!" Jyo exclaimed.

Salah's response was unclipping her lightsaber from behind her back and igniting it. The dark fuchsia blade came to life with a _snap-hiss_ as Salah began deflecting shots from the other orbs. Jyo rolled to the side to avoid more shots and leaped to his feet activating his lightsaber at the same time. He leapt backward and landed back to back with Salah. He now counted only ten orbs hovering about and deduced that Salah must have deflected shots back at two of them.

Jyo found that it was not as easy as he thought to deflect shots back at the shooter, as his lavender lightsaber moved from side to side, careful not to let any shots through. He heard Salah yelp in pain from behind him, and a moment later she growled, as she swung hard at another shot, sending it back to the orb, destroying it. Jyo finally began to get deflected shots to hit the tiny orbs.

And then it was over. The two young Jedi deactivated their lightsabers and clipped them back to their respective belts. Jyo turned to Salah and asked if she was injured.

She shook her head of red hair no longer in a bun. Salah indicated a spot above her knee where the skin had been exposed. "It's red, but the shot didn't break the skin."

Jyo nodded, "You should still rinse it off, and I've got some antibacterial cream you can put on it." He pulled a small med kit from one of his pockets. "Do you still have water in your canteen?"

Salah picked up her canteen, which had fallen from shoulder during the attack, and was surprised at how light it felt. Then she spotted it. A small hole near the bottom about the size of a blaster shot. "Nope." Salah said as she showed Jyo the hole that her water had leaked out of.

Jyo nodded and grabbed his own canteen, which was still half full.

Salah sat down on a small rock as Jyo took a cloth from his med kit and soaked it in water from his canteen. He wiped the burned area clean, which made Salah wince slightly. Jyo then took a small patch and squeezed some cream onto it, which he pressed against the wound. After he was sure it was stuck there, Jyo packed up his med kit.

The cream felt nice and cool on Salah's burn, and she asked, "How did you know what to do?"

Jyo just shrugged, "I probably read every book in the library back on the Installation, including ones on treating simple wounds."

Salah smiled and thanked him, "I guess I should be glad that you're such a bookworm."

Jyo chuckled, and they began walking again. He was pleased to see that Salah did not have a limp. They were quickly covering ground and soon saw light up ahead. The two Jedi students stepped out onto a stone pathway that led up to a stone platform, on which sat Tahiri and Denz.

Denz rushed down and clapped Jyo on the back. Saying how glad he was that Jyo and Salah had made it through all right. He led them up to Tahiri, who also greeted them.

Then the two new arrivals sat and relaxed. Jyo and Salah smiled at each other. In the end, they were glad that they hadn't split up.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Slowly, more and more students arrived at the temple hideout. Some looked like they hadn't had much trouble at all, while others looked like they had just been through the wringer. In the latter category was Todan, who showed up quite a while after Jyo and Salah. He had twigs in his hair, his shades were gone, his clothes were torn and covered with grass and dirt stains, and his bootless feet were covered in mud.

According to Todan, he had fallen into a shallow quicksand pit and lost his boots in there. As he picked the twigs and leaves out of his dark hair, Todan exhaustedly told them about finding himself almost trapped by trees, and having to run from little orbs that shot at him.

Tahiri gave him a questioning look, "Why didn't you use your lightsaber to protect you?"

Todan looked at her, equally baffled.

"You were only not allowed to turn on your lightsaber while inside the Jome, once you were outside it would have been perfectly all right."

Todan's jaw dropped, and he slapped his forehead. The other young Jedi there laughed, and even Tahiri shook her head and chuckled. "Todan," she said, "you're a strange one."

Cordell ran through the tree-crowded forest. Not looking back, he half focused on Tahiri's signal, and half concentrated on his surroundings. Up ahead, he saw a roadblock of trees. Cordell whipped his lightsaber out of its holster and ignited the acid yellow blade for the first time. He slowed just long enough to slice a gap in the trees. The blade cut like a warm knife through butter. After completing a circle, Cordell kicked at the piece he had carved, causing it to fall out the other side of the tree. He took off again.

More students arrived. One of which was Zeek, who, besides a few tears in his clothes and some dirt on his face, looked like he didn't have much trouble in the forest.

After another three students showed up, Denz counted everyone and got a total. "Tahiri!" He called.

"Yes, Denz?" She replied as she walked over.

"I counted seventeen students here, which leaves Cordell and someone else, right?"

Tahiri shook her head, "The only one left to arrive is Cordell. The nineteenth student, a Krison Glynt I believe, failed in his lightsaber test by igniting the blade before leaving the Jome. When I return, I will have to see what shall be done about him."

Denz nodded, and Tahiri walked away.

The days were long on Jedron, and the nights short. It had been twelve hours now since the beginning of the test, and the sun still was not completely set. Denz gestured Jyo over. The taller student rose, casting a gigantic shadow over the stone courtyard as he made his way to Denz. "Is he getting close?" Denz asked.

Jyo said nothing, but Denz could feel him reaching out toward his brother. He found Cordell almost immediately, and it didn't look like he was stopping for anything.

It was getting even harder to see in the forest, if that was possible, but Cordell was still able to spot the two orb-shaped things trying to block his path. He ignited his blade at full speed, jumped into the air, and destroyed both orbs with a single horizontal swipe. Cordell landed without losing much forward momentum and kept going as two more orbs appeared behind him. They opened fire, and Cordell half-turned, deflecting the two shots back at them. The orbs exploded simultaneously. Not even breaking his stride, Cordell turned to face forward again and grinned to himself; he was enjoying all the fun he was having.

Several students had tried to get Tahiri to tell them what would happen next, but she had firmly told them that as soon as everyone was here, she would announce the next step.

The sun was almost gone now, and Tahiri activated a generator that turned on lights all over the stone field on which they sat.

A shadowy figure suddenly burst through the underbrush, startling several students. They quickly realized that it was Cordell, and that he was still holding his lightsaber, which he deactivated and slid back in his shoulder holster. Unlike the other Jedi students, Cordell merely looked winded as he wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead.

Tahiri, a little startled at Cordell's entrance, regained her composure and called everyone closer to her. "Now that we're all here," she began, "the third part of your test shall commence without further delay. I will split you up into nine pairs, and then, one at a time, you will test your lightsaber skills in battle for the first time."

All of the students cheered, save one. Jyo noticed that the expression on Cordell's face was not one of happiness or anticipation; it was a look of sheer determination.

Cordell caught Jyo staring and plastered on the most convincing smile he could. Jyo attempted to smile back, but try as he might, Jyo just couldn't. He felt trouble on the horizon.

"Something's not right." Jaina suddenly said as she stood up.

Luke raced to the computer console to check the surveillance cameras, and Kyp looked hard at Jake.

"Hey! I didn't do anything!"

"No. Not here. Something feels amiss … elsewhere."

The first match was coming to a close as Nayanll Omm's speed made her human opponent, Sy Glodder, dizzy.

"Well done, Nayanll." Tahiri called. "Enough! Sy, you must learn to follow your opponent with the Force instead of your eyes."

The Jedi student nodded dizzily as he sat down heavily and held his head, trying to make the world stop spinning.

"Next up will be …" Tahiri thought for a moment, "Todan and Salah!"

Salah hopped up, ready to go, while Todan slowly climbed to his feet. Without his boots, he was about the same height as Salah. She even offered to remove her boots to make it even.

Todan held up a hand, "It is not your fault that I don't have any boots, and it would only be unfair if I let you fight without yours."

The arena was well lit by the lights around its perimeter, allowing the spectators to see every move.

Salah tossed her outer cloak aside, reached behind her back, brought out her lightsaber, which she held at eye level, and pointed it at Todan. Salah depressed the power stud, activating the fuchsia blade.

Todan shrugged his pack off after removing his lightsaber. He turned sideways, his weapon held in his right hand behind him, and his left hand outstretched in front of him. Todan ignited the bright orange beam, its humming matching that of Salah's. That is, until it suddenly went out.

Salah lowered her weapon and gave Todan a questioning look. Todan didn't seem to know what was going on either, until he saw a little bit of mud drip out the end of the hilt.

Everyone stared in amused shock as Todan shook his lightsaber up and down and hit it on the side, causing more mud to fall out. When he was finally satisfied that he had gotten it all out, Todan attempted to reactivated it. With a _snap-hiss_ the orange blade was back, and Todan cheered, "All right!" He looked around and noticed everyone looking at him like he was crazy. "What?" He asked.

Salah snapped out of her shock and cleared her throat, getting Todan's attention.

He resumed his initial position, and the two of them stood at the ready for about a minute before Tahiri realized that they were waiting for her to start it. "Begin," she said quickly.

"All areas are clear," Luke said from in front of the computer. "Did you say you felt something elsewhere?"

Jaina nodded, "It could be nothing, but …"

"How far away is 'elsewhere'?" Kyp asked.

"Not on this planet, that's for sure. It felt like it came from a Core World."

"The kids?"

"Like I said, it's probably nothing …"

Luke interrupted, "The Force doesn't cause things to happen for no reason. I'll attempt to contact Jedron via a secure Holonet connection. Until then, we'll just have to hope it really was nothing."

Salah rushed in with a one-handed thrust, and Todan brought his blade around to parry the attack to the side. Salah used the momentum from the counter to spin herself around. Coming full circle, she swung horizontally, which Todan ducked and then rolled out of the way. He regained his feet and held his lightsaber out in front of him now. Salah attempted a few jabs, but he deflected each one. Salah backed off to try and think of a new strategy.

Now it was Todan's turn to go on the offensive. He swung downward at Salah, who raised her fuchsia blade to block. Todan attempted several quick attacks at different locations, looking for an opening. Before he could not find one, Salah went on the attack again. This time she focused on putting more power behind her blows. Todan's arms became tired quicker than he thought they would as he blocked and parried Salah's attacks with his orange lightsaber. Todan attempted a few dodges instead, only to find that, in his bare feet, he did not have enough traction to start and stop quickly. He felt it was a losing battle, but continued to block and defend until he could defend and block no more. Salah swung up in one final blow, knocking Todan's lightsaber from his hands.

"Enough!" Tahiri called.

Todan collapsed and rubbed his exhausted arms, while Salah turned off her lightsaber and bent over to catch her breath. The way she breathed made it sound like she had been punched in the stomach.

"While Salah was the victor in the end, this was clearly a match of endurance. Neither one was willing to give up until the other did. They pushed themselves to the limit, until their bodies could take no more. You have both proven to be capable of handling your lightsabers. Congratulations!"

The Jedi students clapped and cheered for the two combatants. Salah felt tears forming in her eyes and tried to wipe them away. Todan just fainted from the excitement and his exhaustion.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jyo saw Cordell clapping, but his expression, if anything, seemed even dourer than before. He didn't have time to inquire as to what Cordell's problem was though. After Salah came to sit with him and the others, and Todan had been dragged off the field; Tahiri called his and Zeek's names!

"Really, Uncle Luke, you shouldn't endanger your mission just because I had a bad feeling!" Jaina was protesting.

"First of all," Luke countered, "my mission is your mission now, and secondly, I've been meaning to check on the progress of the students there. Besides," he added, "the only ones looking for us are the Vong, and I doubt they could track this call."

The computer bleeped, indicating that a connection had been made with the Jedi planet. After a moment of waiting, the hairy upper body of Lowbacca appeared on screen, and he roared his surprise to see them.

"Listen, Lowbacca. I don't want to stay on too long," Luke began, "I would just like for you to tell me what's going on over there right now."

Neither young Jedi removed their outer cloak. Zeek stood with his hands clasped behind his back, as Jyo adjusted his glasses to eliminate the glare from the lights around the field. Once satisfied, Jyo grinned at Zeek as he detached his lightsaber from his side and activated the lavender blade. He held the blade at his side, ready to begin.

As soon as Jyo had activated his weapon, Zeek brought his out from behind his back and ignited the light blue blade as he swung it around and positioned it in front of him. Zeek held his lightsaber vertically with one hand, and the other was open-palmed, facing his opponent.

Tahiri called for them to start, and the two friends engaged in battle. Jyo tested Zeek with a few quick attacks. Zeek easily blocked these and countered with some of his own. They continued in this manner for another minute until an unseen signal was given, and the two began going all out.

Jyo attempted to use his strength as an advantage, trying to get Zeek into a lightsaber lock as often as possible to wear Zeek down. The younger Jedi did not fall for this though. After the second time he and Jyo locked blades, Zeek no longer blocked his attacks but dodged them instead. As a result, Jyo became exhausted trying to keep up with Zeek.

When Zeek noticed that Jyo was starting to lag, he quickly switched from defensive to attack. He charged in on the now almost stationary Jyo. Zeek attacked down low, across the middle, and up near Jyo's head, looking for an opening. Jyo easily protected himself from Zeek's attacks, which were none too powerful, giving him time to catch his breath.

Taking Zeek by surprise, Jyo suddenly went on the offensive again. Jyo's attacks were relentless and well aimed. Zeek had a hard time defending against the onslaught. He began to sweat; _I can't keep this up much longer_, he thought to himself. Still trying to defend, Zeek gathered the Force and launched himself backward about twenty feet, putting some distance between him and Jyo.

This move surprised everyone, including Jyo. No one had expected Force use during a lightsaber duel. Tahiri, silently impressed, smiled to herself.

Jyo didn't have time to press his advantage any further. As soon as Zeek steadied himself, he raised his light blue lightsaber and held it horizontally in front of his face, just below eye level. Then he started running, straight toward Jyo. Jyo set himself, but didn't expect much power behind the coming blow, even with a running start. Zeek swung his weapon like a baseball bat when he was within range and struck Jyo's vertical blade. There was a bright flash as the weapons connected. The impact jarred Jyo, causing him to close his eyes and grit his teeth. He felt the ground moving beneath his feet, but when he opened his eyes he saw that it wasn't the ground that had moved; it was he! On the stone floor were two black skid marks made by Jyo's boots as he slid backward about ten feet. Before Jyo could compute what had just happened, Zeek set himself again and charged. Thinking he had merely underestimated the attack, Jyo set himself more firmly, but once again he found himself unable to stop his ten to twelve foot slide backward when Zeek's attack connected.

Tahiri, Denz, Salah, and Cordell were among the few that knew what Zeek was doing. He was doubling his attack power by adding Force power to physical power; like an amplifier.

When Jyo realized how Zeek was landing such powerful blows, he knew there was no way he would be able to block them. Instead, he followed Zeek's example and started to dodge when things got tough.

Zeek wasn't about to fall for his own trick though. As he kept up his Force enhanced attacks, Zeek carefully watched Jyo's dodging for a pattern. Finding one, he attacked again, and when Jyo dodged this time, he landed on top of a bunch of loose gravel and pebbles causing him to slip and fall.

Zeek's face flashed surprise for a millisecond and then turned to a victorious grin as he stood over Jyo and pointed his blue lightsaber at him.

"It's over!" Tahiri called to them.

Zeek turned off his weapon, and Jyo followed suit.

After Jyo climbed to his feet, Tahiri congratulated them both on a most impressive display of both strategy and power.

As the two friends walked back over to where they had previously sat, Jyo quietly commented to Zeek on how he was lucky that Jyo had slipped and fallen.

Zeek stared at him, "What do you mean 'lucky'? I put that stuff there for you to trip on!"

"Right."

Zeek continued to try to convince Jyo that his tripping was planned, but he wasn't listening. Jyo had suddenly felt a strong premonition that told him who the next match would be between even before Tahiri announced it. _Whatever that feeling meant, it definitely had something to do with this upcoming duel._

"They're having duels already?" Luke asked incredulously.

Lowbacca nodded his head and moaned.

"Are you aware of their status?"

The Wookiee Jedi groaned a reply.

"Well, can you find out?"

Lowbacca went off screen for a few moments, and Luke sighed with frustration.

The hairy Jedi Knight returned to the screen and shrugged as he roared an answer.

"Tahiri! Why don't you have your comlink on?" Luke said to himself. "I don't want to push my luck, Lowbacca so I'm going to sign off now. But promise me that if anything happens, you'll send a message to the Holonet address on your screen."

Lowbacca nodded and gave Luke a quick salute. M-TD appeared behind Lowbacca and added, "I'll be sure to keep reminding Master Lowbacca of your request, seeing as his memory is dreadfully poor."

The Wookiee rolled his yellow eyes, and Luke saw him reach over and deactivate M-TD before the connection was terminated.

As Jyo had thought, Denz and Cordell were next. Denz ignited his turquoise blade before he was even ready and started to spin and twirl it in a showy display.

Cordell was not impressed, however. If anything, his disposition was made worse by this. He activated his golden blade without a word and held it above his head, ready to begin.

Denz took the silent hint and, with his lightsaber in his right hand, assumed his ready position holding his weapon diagonally across his body.

"Begin!" Tahiri said without hesitation.

_Am I the only one who has a bad feeling about this?_ Jyo wondered.

There was no warm up. No testing of each other's skills. As soon as Tahiri announced the start, Cordell attacked using his great speed to his advantage.

This was fine with Denz, though. He didn't want the fight to be boring. And boring it certainly wasn't. One thought continued to circulate through Cordell's mind: _I MUST WIN!_

The thought hit Jyo like a ton of bricks. He was amazed at the intensity of it.

As Denz, still using only one hand, blocked and parried all of Cordell's two-handed attacks, another thought was added on to the original: _AT ANY COST!_

If Jyo had been standing, he surely would have been knocked over from the force of the thought. In a single moment that seemed to last a lifetime, everything changed.

Denz began to lose his nerve and started using two hands to defend himself. The speed of Cordell's attacks left no opening for a counter attack. He was relentless in his assault. Denz then began to lose ground, moving slowly away as Cordell pushed him back with an onslaught of slashes.

Jyo couldn't think. He couldn't move. He sat paralyzed from what he had just seen. Was he the only one? Had no one else seen it? Jyo suddenly realized that what he had just seen had not happened yet. Did that mean he would have to watch in horror a second time?

It did….

Cordell had forced Denz to the edge of the arena. Having nowhere else to go, Denz desperately dodged to the side, and before Cordell could turn, Denz brought his lightsaber down in an overhead attack.

Jyo knew what was coming. He had seen it once before. But the shock from seeing it one time already had stolen his voice, and his body would not respond. He was powerless to change the future he had foreseen. This realization made Jyo want to close his eyes, but he was not even allowed that simple pleasure. He was destined to watch the same terrible event twice, and most likely many more times over in his mind.

Then it happened. Cordell stopped Denz's attack mid-swing, but not with his lightsaber. With his left hand, Cordell had grabbed Denz's right wrist, stopping the attack cold.

Jyo vaguely heard Tahiri call out an end to the match, but he knew it was not over.

Cordell did not release his hold on Denz. He did not even turn and acknowledge Tahiri. His cold, emotionless eyes bore into Denz's, filled with confusion and worry. Cordell grinned, and you could hear the cracking of bone as with one quick motion, he broke Denz's wrist. The turquoise lightsaber clattered to the stone floor and shut off, as Denz groaned in pain. Tahiri called again for Cordell to stop, as she stood, a little uncertain as to what she should do.

Cordell didn't move for a moment, and everything was silent. Then the quiet was broken by a laugh. It came from Cordell. Not a laugh of joy or insanity, but a laugh of satisfaction.

Denz knew what was coming. Not because he had foreseen it like Jyo had, but because when he had looked into Cordell's eyes, he had not seen his friend, but someone else. With whom there would be no pleading or voice of reason. Denz thought of what his future could have been like, instead of what it was going to be … nonexistent.

In what seemed like slow motion, Cordell swung his golden blade in a long upward arc that picked Denz up and threw him several feet away, a smoldering black mark from his left hip, almost strait up to just right of his neck.

His Jedi garb was quickly drenched in blood seeping from the gaping wound, as Denz lay unconscious on his back.

When Cordell turned to look at what he had done, he acted surprised and repulsed, the exact same reaction as everyone else who had witnessed it. Cordell fell to his knees and deactivated his lightsaber. He knelt there and stared at his weapon as things he did not acknowledge, went on around him. _What have I done?_ was a thought that went through his mind, but it was overpowered by another idea: _Look at what I have the power to do!_


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Jacen and Tenal-Ka Solo sat listening to political leaders battle it out in debate over how best to restore Coruscant to its former state as a city-planet. The Yuuzhan Vong takeover of the capital planet of the galaxy had proved devastating. Nearly all of the artificial constructions had been destroyed or broken down into materials that could be used to feed the plants and organic creations the Vong had cultivated.

The proposals ranged anywhere from just building over top of what was already there as they had done in the past, to attempting to recycle the now bountiful organic life to create material that could be used for construction, to destroying everything; clearing the planet of both Vong organics and artificial constructions.

Not only were most of the ideas far-fetched, but it was also becoming extremely boring. Jacen sighed and glanced at his wife. He knew that underneath that mask of interest and thoughtfulness, was the no-nonsense, adventure-loving, debate-hating person he absolutely adored.

Tenal-Ka stretched, and in doing so, the cloak surrounding her fell aside exposing her left side and the limbless spot where her arm should have been. In an attempt to impress Jacen when they were children, Tenal-Ka had rushed her lightsaber construction, and as a result it had failed her in the middle of her duel with Jacen, causing him to accidentally sever her arm at the shoulder. The arm could not be reattached, and Tenal-Ka had refused any robotic replacement, wanting her loss to make her more independent and responsible.

He was about to whisper one of his infamous corny jokes to her, when she suddenly gasped and jumped to her feet. Jacen was about to inquire when he felt it as well. Something had happened to Denz!

Jacen and Tenal-Ka realized that the speaker had become quiet and was looking at them, as if annoyed. Jacen smiled sheepishly as he and his wife quickly left the auditorium. In the hallway, they set a course for the nearest communications room. They had to find out what was wrong. They knew Denz was still alive, but they were worried about how long that would last.

Tahiri rushed toward Denz as she whipped out her comlink. "Lowbacca, come in!" She received a lengthy growl in return. "Master Skywalker called? Listen. We'll discuss it when I get back; I have an emergency here! Send the retrieval shuttle immediately! One of the students has been severely injured!"

Lowbacca roared an affirmative.

In an afterthought, Tahiri added, "And make sure Tay Norat'k is on the ship. We're going to need her help!"

The Twi'lek, Tay Norat'k awoke from her slumber with a start, her headtails thrashed about before she calmed. What had awoken her? Had it been a dream or something real? She sat in the dark and reached out with the Force. Nothing seemed amiss inside the Jome, but there _was_ some sort of disturbance deep in the forest. Before Tay had time to wonder if it had anything to do with Tahiri and the rest of the Jedi, a loud knock and roar came from the other side of the door. She was startled at first, but then realized that it was only Lowbacca. Tay climbed out of bed and padded to the door. As soon as she opened it, Lowbacca grabbed her, picked her up, and slung Tay over his shoulder.

Tay yelled at the Wookiee to put her down, but Lowbacca just kept going as he headed out into the lounge. M-TD was startled to see Tay's predicament and offered an apology for the Wookiee's brashness.

A second later they were outside, and Tay shivered in the cool night air. Not given a chance to dress, Tay only had a T-shirt and a pair of baggy pants on. The way Lowbacca was carrying her, she could not see in front of her, but realized that they were climbing a boarding ramp to a ship.

The Wookiee dropped her on the metal floor of the cargo hold and sealed the outer hatch. Lowbacca gestured for her to follow him to the front of the ship, but now that Tay was on the ship, he didn't seem to care if she went with him or not. Tay decided to accompany the Wookiee to where it might not be so cold.

She entered the cockpit and found Lowbacca in the pilot's chair warming up the engines and ignoring the pre-flight checks. She plopped herself into the copilot's seat and strapped in. Within seconds, they had lifted off and were shooting toward the center of a forest in the dead of night.

Denz was losing strength fast. Every second that went by his heart beat a little slower, and his breathing came in shorter gasps. Tahiri began feeding energy into Denz in an attempt to stabilize him. She instructed the students to do the same if they could.

Zeek was like a living life-support system, pumping his great Force power into his brother to keep him alive. They did not have to keep this up for long, however. After only a moment or two, the shuttle piloted by Lowbacca hovered overhead. The Wookiee pilot put down on the stone field where the duels had been held.

"Quickly! We must get Denz aboard the ship!" Tahiri said as the boarding ramp lowered.

"Zeek!" Jyo said. "You lift him and we'll help you."

Denz's brother nodded as he concentrated on Denz's body. He used the Force to lift Denz and levitated him up the ramp into the ship with the other students' help.

His eyes flew open and he sat up! Todan looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. He saw a ship and everyone hurrying inside it. "What's the rush?" He wondered. Todan stood up and yawned. He then realized that the boarding ramp was starting to close. "HEY! Don't forget me!" He yelled as he started running toward the ship.

Zeek had set Denz down and heard Todan's cry. He pulled the lagging student inside just before the outer hatch closed. His energy spent, Zeek collapsed on the cold metal floor of the hold.

Tahiri yelled into her comlink, "Lowbacca! Get Tay back here now!"

Five seconds later, Tay burst through the doorway to the hold and gasped when she saw Denz's black streaked upper body and red-stained cloak. She asked Jyo and Todan to help her remove the blood- soaked shirt and robe. Tay bit her lip to keep from gasping again as the torn and broken flesh was uncovered. She had always wanted to be a Jedi healer, but the thought of having to deal with such gruesome wounds had never occurred to her. Not having any actual medical equipment, the best she could do was to try and stop the bleeding. The color had begun to drain from Denz's face, which was a bad sign that if he lost much more blood, it would be all over. Tay instructed Jyo to use his lightsaber to cut Denz's shirt and cloak into long strips of cloth. She then wrapped his entire upper body in the cloth strips, while the others continued to give Denz strength.

Cordell had been aware enough to board the ship when it landed, but immediately after entering the hold, he seated himself in a corner and continued to stare at his lightsaber.

Just as Tay finished bandaging up Denz as best she could, they all felt the ship jerk as Lowbacca set it down. Before anyone could concentrate enough to lift Denz again, Lowbacca charged into the room and picked up the bandaged boy as the landing ramp lowered. He dashed into the nearest building, which turned out to be a lot like a medical ward. With Tay and the others in tow, Lowbacca entered a room that appeared to be equipped with every modern medical gadget there was.

Lowbacca laid Denz, who was still unconscious, on an operating table as Tay and Tahiri entered the room. The MD-1 droid of that room was startled by their entrance, but did not hesitate as it began its prognosis of Denz. "Status: unconscious. Blood loss: 90 percent to critical. Heartbeat: stable. External damage: repairable."

The droid paused as the other computers fed it new information. "X-rays show no bones broken except right wrist. Scans reveal no serious internal damage. Major organs: undamaged. Small tear in right lung from external trauma: repairable. Mental trauma: minimal."

As the droid gave them the run down, Tay and Tahiri removed the blood soaked cloth strips from around Denz's upper body. Lowbacca left the room to wait with the rest of the students.

Tay cleaned the wound and used a welding-like tool to seal it shut, leaving a long red mark where the gash had been. Tay was thankful that Denz was unconscious. She didn't know if she could have been so calm if he had been awake and aware.

"Is he going to be OK?" Tahiri asked.

Tay nodded, "The bacta tank will take care of the broken wrist and torn lung, as well as restore the lost blood into his system."

Tahiri smiled with relief and thanked Tay. She then exited the room and found all of the other Jedi students still waiting outside. "Denz is going to be fine, everyone. We should all return to the Jome and get some sleep."

Jyo, Zeek, Todan, and Salah stepped forward as the other students filed out of the building. "If it's all right," Jyo said, "I think we'd like to see Denz awake and healthy before we try to sleep."

Tahiri nodded, "Very well, you may return to the Jome when you are ready."

The four friends entered Denz's room and saw him floating in a bacta tank. Tay sat nearby, jotting something down on a datapad. She seemed startled when the others came in, and she jumped to her feet.

The scar from Denz's hip to shoulder stood out on his pale skin, but even as they watched, the color started to return.

"He lost a tremendous amount of blood." Tay explained. "But the regenerative properties of the bacta have already restored about 35 percent of the lost blood. His wrist is healing nicely, and once enough blood begins circulating throughout his body, he should regain consciousness. He did have a small tear in his right lung, but the bacta has already sealed it up.

"I have been monitoring his brain waves. Right now he seems to be enjoying a peaceful sleep."

He awoke with a start. It felt like he was surrounded by liquid, but he wasn't drowning. When his mind cleared completely, he rationalized that it must be bacta, the healing fluid. He heard voices, but no one was in sight. Everything was dark and blurry, and it didn't feel like he was hearing the voices with his ears, but they seemed to come straight through his Force senses. Having gotten his bearings, he listened carefully to what the voices were saying.

"So how long do you think it will take for him to wake up?" Zeek asked.

"Well, at the rate he's recovering, it shouldn't take more than three days." Tay replied.

"Three days!" Todan exclaimed. "They probably won't let us do anything fun until he wakes up!"

The others scowled at him.

"What?!"

Jyo suddenly stood. "I'll be right back."

The others watched him leave and began chatting amongst themselves. Salah noticed that Tay didn't join in the conversation much. "Is something wrong, Tay? You're kind of quiet."

"I'm just wondering what will happen to Cordell."

Before anyone could reply, Jyo burst back in the room. "Cordell's gone!" He exclaimed.

"What do you mean, 'gone'?"

"I just called over to the Jome. He's not there, and Lowbacca said he wasn't on the ship when he took it back to the hanger. To make sure, I scanned the planet for him, but he's nowhere to be found. I then contacted the spaceport and asked if any ships were missing. My fears were confirmed when they told me that a renovated Jedi starfighter was missing from the underground hanger. There is no record of it leaving, and the guards were found unconscious!"


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The voices felt upset. Something was wrong. Cordell! They were saying that Cordell was gone. _Go after him?! No, Jyo! Don't go yet! Wait for me! I can help!_ As hard as he tried, Denz couldn't call out to them; could not speak. Denz felt helpless; only able to listen as his friends ran out into the unknown. Denz did not like being helpless!

"Well, I'm in for sure," Todan was saying. "Going on a search for an AWOL Jedi sound like quite an adventure."

"Thanks, Todan." Jyo acknowledged. Jyo had learned a lot about Todan just from talking with him while they were in the forest waiting for the other students to arrive. Todan's balance of quiet indifference and adventure-seeking brashness had intrigued Jyo.

"You better believe I'm coming as well!" This came from Salah.

Jyo raised his hands and smiled sheepishly, "Uh, do you know the old phrase: 'Three's company and four's a crowd'?"

Salah scowled back at him, "Yes. As a matter of fact, I do know that phrase. And I also know that's not how it goes."

"Look, Salah, we're probably going to have to sneak away on a ship or something. And the more people, the better chance that we'll get caught."

"Well … why does Todan have to go? Why can't I go instead of him?" Salah huffed as she crossed her arms across her chest.

Zeek relieved Jyo, "Todan said he wanted to go for the adventure. Why do you want to go? Excuse me for being presumptuous, but you don't seem like the adventure seeking type."

Salah glanced quickly at Jyo but said nothing. She bit her lip and turned away.

"Do me a favor," Jyo added. "Stay here with Tay and help her if she needs it. Who knows? Tahiri may be sending someone out to look for Cordell, so we might not have to go anywhere."

Salah did not turn around, but nodded her head slowly.

Jyo left the room, followed by Todan and Zeek. Just before Zeek stepped through the doorway, he stopped and stared hard at the bacta tank containing Denz. _It felt like he was trying to tell me something just now,_ Zeek thought. He stood there another couple of seconds, and then left when he was satisfied that it had been nothing.

Tahiri and Lowbacca stood in her quarters facing a none-too-happy Luke Skywalker. His expression of disappointment was noticeable even through the hologram's fuzzy picture.

"Why didn't you stop him?" he asked.

Tahiri shook her head, "I don't know. All I know is that I had called out to him twice and stood up to stop him, but for some reason I was having trouble concentrating. I couldn't focus enough to use the Force or even walk."

Luke rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Do you think it's possible, Cordell clouded your mind, as well as everyone else's?"

Lowbacca growled and crossed his arms.

"Lowbacca's right," Tahiri agreed. "Cordell's strength has never lied in his ability to think or use the Force. It's always been his physical ability that was outstanding."

"Outside interference?"

Tahiri was silent for a moment, "It doesn't seem likely, but I suppose it's feasible that something is out there, hiding from us." She began to pace, "But for what purpose? Why would, whatever it is want to do this?"

"That remains to be seen," Luke said. "In the meantime, what do you plan to do about Cordell?"

"Well, I had initially planned on sending a team to retrieve him using the tracking device in the stolen fighter, but it seems the device has malfunctioned or something."

Luke finished for her, "So you thought that maybe this was the will of the Force."

Tahiri nodded.

Luke fell silent and looked as though he was concentrating. When he spoke, he said, "I am unable to detect any direct leadings from the Force concerning Cordell. I will meditate on it as soon as we return from our next scouting mission. For now, do not attempt to go after Cordell. Besides the fact that the tracker is not working, I somewhat feel that this entire episode is all part of the development of his abilities."

"Understood," Tahiri stated and Lowbacca chuffed an affirmative as the hologram faded out.

Tahiri collapsed into a chair and rubbed her eyes, "Ugh, could things get any worse?"

Before Lowbacca could retort, her Holonet connection bleeped. She activated a voice command, "Who's calling?"

The computer responded, "Jedi Master Jacen Solo and Jedi Master Tenal-Ka Solo. Calling from Coruscant. Urgent!"

Tahiri groaned, "Me and my big mouth!"

Lowbacca shook his head, and Tahiri prepared to explain what happened yet again.

Jyo removed his ear from the door to Tahiri's room and shook his head. Todan, Zeek, and he headed back out to the lounge. Several students still lingered in the large semi-sphere room. Most had retired to their rooms, but some were still a little unnerved by what had happened that night.

Jyo and the others sat down at a vacant table and spoke in low tones. "It's as I feared," Jyo was saying. "They can't track him, nor do they want to."

"That's a point right there," Zeek said. "How are we going to find Cordell ourselves, without some way to locate him?

Jyo shrugged, "The closest thing we have to a tracker is our sibling link."

"Okay, here's an even better question," Zeek added. "How do we get to him even if we figure out where he is?"

"Not a problem." Todan spoke up. He stood, as did Jyo and Zeek, and moved to a computer terminal. Todan sat in front of the screen with Jyo and Zeek on each side of him. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he bypassed several passwords and security checks. The screen soon displayed the local spaceport's flight schedule. Todan pointed to the second soonest departure. "This looks promising." The list of flights was replaced by a description of the ship and cargo of the one Todan had chosen.

Jyo nodded after reading the details. "Zeek?"

Zeek did not answer right away and was silent for another moment. He knew that this was a good choice, but that feeling like Denz was trying to tell him something was back. It distracted him. He suddenly became aware that Jyo was tapping him on the shoulder. He snapped out of his spacing and nodded quickly. "I like it," was all he said.

Denz's hopes fell. His attempt to alert Zeek had once again failed. He wanted to warn them, to help them. So far, he had deduced that his physical body was unconscious, and that he, or his mind anyway, was trapped in a sort of limbo. Denz looked around for a way out; a way to use his conscious mind to jolt his body out of unconsciousness. But there was nothing around him but a dense, brown smog. He glanced up, and there, directly above him, was a light. He didn't know what it meant or if it led anywhere, but he was determined to find out. Denz stared straight up and longed to get there, but how would he? He suddenly realized that the light seemed to be getting closer. Was he willing himself toward it? Denz could only hope as he concentrated on the distant point of light.

Salah paced angrily about the confines of the hospital room. "Stupid boys!" She grumbled. "Stay behind to help Tay my foot! No offense."

Tay shook her head in understanding.

"I mean, what help could I possibly be to you? You're the one with medical training, not me!"

"Perhaps there was another reason their leaving you behind." Tay's headtails twitched knowingly.

The younger girl continued to fume. "Yeah, right!" She said as she rolled her eyes. She imitated Jyo's voice, "'Sorry, Salah, but you got to stay here cause you're a girl.'"

Tay chuckled at this, and Salah cracked a smile. Even if they hadn't started laughing, the two still might not have noticed the slight crease in Denz's eyebrows.

Jyo, Zeek and Todan crouched behind some crates on the edge of the landing pad where their escape ship was due to land, load up, and take off again. They were thankful that there were no Jedi around; otherwise, their nervousness and anxiety would have surely given them away.

Todan suddenly tapped Jyo on the shoulder. "I just thought of something," he said. "After we stow away on the ship, how do we get the pilot to take us where we want to go?"

Jyo held up two fingers, "First, if the pilot is weak-minded, we just hide out in the back and suggest to him where we need to go. If that doesn't work, then I guess we'll have to surprise and restrain him, and one of us is going to have to pilot the ship."

Before either could reply, they heard and saw a small cargo ship approach the landing pad. As it neared, Todan recognized the almost completely black vessel as a TransAmp 1800. When it had put down, two loading droids hovered onto the platform. The cargo hold opened and a tall, husky man holding a datapad walked out.

Todan raised an eyebrow at Jyo, who shrugged. "Let's just hope he's none too bright."

The pilot never moved from beside the loading hatch as he shouted orders to the droids. He scribbled on his datapad as they unloaded. "Hey!" he yelled at the droid that had just exited the ship carrying a large load. "Be careful with those crates, they're very fragile!"

From where they were hidden, Jyo nodded at Zeek and then at the droid. Zeek nodded in understanding and focused on the restraints holding the load in place. Still somewhat tired from his earlier ordeal, Zeek struggled but was still able to release the locking mechanism on one of the latches.

The pilot of the cargo ship had his head turned and didn't see the loading droid suddenly tip to one side as one of the huge crates came loose and fell to the landing pad with a crash, followed by the sound of things shattering. The pilot spun around and yelled at the droid, "You stupid machine! Those are some very fragile artifacts that might have been used by the Jedi of the past! AHH! NO!" The pilot yelled again as the loading droid, now off balance, began to tilt on its heavier side. The restraints groaned as more stress was placed on them. The pilot was running toward the droid now. "Reconfigure your equilibrator!" He called. Just when the rest of the restraints looked as though they would snap, the droid made the correction and righted itself.

While the pilot was busy yelling at the loading droid, Jyo, Todan, and Zeek snuck aboard and found a good hiding spot in a closet compartment just behind the cockpit. It was big enough for all of them to sit down in as they listened to the droids finish unloading. The three heard the pilot arguing with someone else, most likely about the broken crate. Not soon after, they both heard and felt the cargo door shut, followed by the heavy footsteps of the pilot on the metal floor. He passed their hiding place, and they could hear him collapse into a seat in the cockpit and mumble something like, "I hate this job."

The TransAmp 1800 shuddered as the engines were fired up. The three friends braced themselves against the walls of their hiding place. Takeoff was going to be one rough ride without any restraints. The landing gear was retracted, and the pilot gave his ship full throttle.

The launch was smooth, and the stowaways were not as badly jostled about as they thought they would have been. Jyo assumed they had reached orbit when the pilot cut the engines and set the cargo ship to autopilot. The three friends froze when they heard the pilot rise from his squeaky chair. His boots clomped heavily on the metal floor as he exited the cockpit. The sound stopped right outside of their hiding place.

The door swished open and the stowaways squinted as the light from the hallway flooded in. There in the doorway stood the husky pilot, leveling a blaster at them; but when he realized they were only kids, he holstered his weapon and crossed his arms across his chest. "What're you kids doin' on my ship?" The man asked in a gruff voice.

No one answered. They were not sure what to make of this man. How had he known they were in here? And why didn't he seem that upset?

"Well, whenever you're ready to let them cats off your tongues, come on up to the cockpit and we'll have a little chat." With that, the pilot turned and clomped back to his chair.

Jyo, Zeek, and Todan exchanged glances. They slowly rose and made their way to the cockpit.

"Have a seat o'er there," the pilot said as he waved to an acceleration couch. The young Jedi sat, and the ship's captain turned to face them. "How's about we start by introducin' each other? My name's Kam Twoplintor. Friends call me Kamtoo. And you?"

Jyo introduced himself, as well as Todan and Zeek. He told Kam that they were students at the Jedi Academy, and that they were sorry for sneaking onto his ship.

"Students, huh?" Kam looked skeptical. "It may be beyond me, but why would any Jedi _want_ to leave Jedron? It's like Jedi heaven or something!"

Jyo caught the looks from Todan and Zeek: their silent agreement that Jyo should tell Kam the whole story. "Well, Kam," Jyo began. "If you agree to at least consider our request for help, then I'll explain everything."

Kam nodded his agreement, and Jyo began by explaining a few things about his brother, Cordell.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Tay's eyes fluttered open. She was startled at first, but she quickly remembered where she was. Tay sat up in the chair in which she had dozed and looked around the room. Salah slept not far away in another chair. The room was dark except for the light from the bacta tank and several diagnostic displays. Tay drowsily glanced at the readouts before yawning and nodding off once more. Had she checked the information on mental activity, she would have found disturbing amounts of activity -- almost as if Denz was having a nightmare.

Denz had never been more frustrated. He had made considerable distance and was closer to the strange light than ever, but he had reached a point, it seemed, where every time he got closer, his objective moved further away. "This is just great!" He huffed. Denz stared at the bright spot. "Does this mean I'm not supposed to reach it yet or something?"

From out of nowhere, a voice spoke: _Clever deduction Denz Solo._

Denz knew this voice. He had only heard the low, nasally tone once before. "It's you! The one from the woods!"

_Correct again_, came the sound again. _And you may call me Pan._

The voice sounded so close, so vivid, unlike listening to the voices of those outside his bacta tank. _He must me communicating with me straight through the Force,_ Denz thought.

_My! You are perceptive._

"You can even hear the thoughts of my subconscious! Why am I not surprised?"

_You surprise me Denz. Your ability to analyze the situation and come to quick, accurate conclusions is impressive. You are truly one with the Force in your current state. If you were to become conscious while in this mind-set, your strength as a Jedi would multiply tenfold._

"Then could you explain to me why the only evident way out of this limbo is beyond my grasp?"

_Come now. Surely you must have realized the consequences of regaining consciousness so soon after such a severe injury._

Denz thought for a moment. "My body is not yet strong enough for my mind to return to it yet. So to speak."

_Yes._

"How much longer then?"

_You will know when the time is right. Until then, to keep your mind focused, think about what is going on right now. Make a plan for what you are going to do when you do regain consciousness._

"You're going to leave now aren't you?"

No answer.

"Hmph! Typical."

Denz relaxed and began to contemplate what he was going to do, and how he was going to do it once he "came back to life." Immediately ideas began to flood his mind. He discarded many, saved a few, and eliminated a couple more. Soon Denz had a general layout of what he would do. There were always variables, so he left room for their possibility.

Denz decided to take a break and think of something else for a while. He would dwell on the details later. Denz found himself thinking about his trek through the forest. Particularly, his meeting with the strange creature that called itself "Pan". Denz suddenly remembered something he had missed before. "That changes a few things," he said.

A lone Jedi Starfighter hung motionless just outside the orbit of a dank planet. This planet was called Myrkyr. It was once the breeding ground of voxyn, monsters that hunted Jedi. It was the death place of Anakin Solo. A role model for all Jedi, Anakin had been selfless, brave, and responsible. Although still very young when he met his demise, Anakin had surpassed many older Jedi. In the end, however, to allow his comrades to escape, Anakin took his life with a thermal detonator -- along with several dozen Vong.

Cordell longed to be like Anakin in every sense except for the dead part. Anakin was remembered as a great hero for what he did on the planet Myrkyr. _Maybe I can become a great hero here, and make up for what I've done,_ Cordell thought as he sat in the cockpit of the stolen Jedi Starfighter. He took a deep breath and set a course for the planet. He was determined not to fail.

Jyo had just finished explaining their predicament to Kam. As he sat back on the acceleration couch, Jyo prompted. "Well?"

Before Kam could answer, a transmission came through to his radio from the planet. He shut the radio off, folded his arms across his chest, and replied, "Count me in."

"Now before you say no, I…. Wait a minute! Did you just say, 'count me in'?"

Kam nodded, "I'm tired of this stinkin' cargo haulin' business. I wanna have some fun; go on an adventure. So wherever youse guys need to go, you can count on me."

"Wow! This couldn't have gone better if we had brainwashed you!" Todan exclaimed.

"What was that?"

Todan yelped as Zeek clocked him on the head. "Nothing, Kam. Just an annoying sound no one listens to."

Todan rubbed his head and grumbled something. "Be quiet for a second guys," Jyo said. "Let me concentrate." Jyo closed his eyes and searched for Cordell. He was surprised at how difficult it was to find him. Cordell was trying to hide himself, Jyo knew. After finding and losing him several times, Jyo pinpointed a location. He opened his eyes and told Kam, "Okay. I know where we need to go."

Kam smiled, "Just one second." He turned back to the controls for the radio and switched them on. Immediately he received a transmission from Jedron trying to hail him. "Tower, this is the _Twilight Trekker_," Kam answered. "I've decided to take a vacation. See y'all later!" Before the Tower could respond, Kam turned the radio back off. He rubbed his hands together as he turned back to the young Jedi and asked, "So! Where are we going?"

Cordell sat in the stolen Jedi Starfighter on the outskirts of Dryknar, a city on Myrkyr. He opened his eyes and smiled to himself. _That ought to keep Jyo busy for a while._ Cordell popped the hatch and climbed out of the ship._ Hopefully long enough for me to make a name for myself on this planet._

As Cordell approached the rather dingy-looking city, he felt his shoulder holster again for his lightsaber. He breathed a sigh of relief to know he had it. He would be making good use of it very soon.

"Tatooine!"

Jyo nodded, "That's where I found him."

"Is your brother looking for trouble?" Kam asked incredulous.

"We don't know what he's looking for," Jyo shrugged.

"Are you thinking of backing out?" Zeek asked.

Kam shook his head fiercely, "No way! I'm still in. Hey, if you wanted me to take you to a Hutt planet, I would."

"So, can we go already?" Todan prodded.

"He's right." Kam agreed. "Time's awaistin'!" He turned to the controls and punched in the coordinates for their first hyperspace jump. While he did, Kam told the young Jedi to strap in. "Ready?" he asked, his hand poised over the throttle.

"One question." Todan spoke up.

Kam froze, his hand now on the lever.

"Do you have any cookies?" Todan finished.

"Todan!" Jyo and Zeek yelled in unison.

"What?"

"Enough!" Kam exclaimed, and he punched the throttle.

Stars became streaks of light, and streaks became a blanket of white that surrounded them as they shot into hyperspace.

Tay Norat'k awoke the next morning to find herself on the floor of the medical ward. She climbed slowly to her feet, but still got dizzy from the effort. Tay approached Salah, still perched in her chair, and tapped her on the shoulder.

Salah yawned as her eyes opened. "Good morning," Salah said drowsily.

Tay gave her a confused look.

Salah realized what she had said and tried to clarify, "Okay, under the circumstances, it may not be a very _good_ morning."

Tay smiled, "You should head back to the Jome."

"Stupid question, but are you sure I can't help you with anything?"

The Twi'lek shook her head, causing her headtails to sway, "No, that's alright. Go and come back later. Let me know what's going on with everyone, okay?"

Salah grinned back at her, "You got it!"

After Salah had left, Tay went about performing menial tasks and checking readout after readout. Tay was so thorough that when she came across brain wave analyzer, she discovered something odd. The log that kept track of brain wave flux showed bursts of activity at regular intervals. Her curiosity aroused, Tay checked further back in the log. The same pattern continued for a ways before becoming one constant stream of activity.

Tay stepped back from the readout and looked at Denz, who still floated motionless in the bacta tank. _What does this mean?_ She asked herself. Tay sat down to steady herself. "The mind should have been in a stasis," she said to herself. "It should have been resting; ready to go as soon as the body was."

Tay studied the brain wave readout again and decided that there was about ten minutes between each period of activity. She waited patiently until another such period appeared on the readout. When it did, she noted the time, and nine minutes from that time she stood about a foot away from the bacta tank, looking closely at Denz's face for any type of reaction that acted in coordination with the anomalies. Even the slightest twitch would prove that something was up. Tay waited; not taking her eyes off of Denz for a second for fear that she would miss the telltale sign.

After what Tay had estimated to be at least two minutes, she glanced at her chronometer. It had indeed been over a minute. Tay walked over to the brain wave analyzer, and, just like dozens of times before, there was an anomaly at the same time interval.

Tay came to two conclusions: either the equipment was malfunctioning, or something was going on so deep inside Denz's mind that it did not even reciprocate through his body.

Tay was determined to solve this herself. If she was to become a Jedi healer, she had to be able to figure things out on her own. _Wait a minute! Jedi! The Force! That's it!_ She had been looking at this from a purely scientific point of view. Tay now realized that Denz's mind was somewhere beyond his body, operating through the Force. _But for what purpose?_ Tay wondered.

Denz sat meditating. Having nothing better to do, he focused on Tay and what she was doing. She finally seemed to realize what was going on. Denz and she shared no Force connection, and he didn't even know her that well; otherwise he would have tried communicating with her.

He looked up. There, in the same spot, was the bright light, the point of escape. It was time again for him to try and reach it. He concentrated and urged himself forward. At first it did not seem like he was making any progress, but soon it became apparent that Denz was quickly approaching the light. Denz did not know what to expect when he reached it, so he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he hit it and everything turned white.

The white became streaks and then stars as the _Twilight Trekker_ dropped out of hyperspace above Tatooine.

"This should be some fun!" Kam hooted. "Ready boys?"

"Wait!" Jyo warned. "Something doesn't feel right." He closed his eyes for a moment, "Just as I feared. This was a diversion. Cordell isn't here at all."

"Great! Now what?" Todan wanted to know.

Jyo held up a finger and said with certainty, "We need to go to Duro." Jyo then held up his hands so no one would respond. He nodded to himself and lowered his hands.

"What was that all about?" Zeek asked.

"Yeah. Spill it guy." Kam agreed.

"Well, Cordell and I are so closely linked that we can pretty much tell what the other is thinking. All I had to do was convince Cordell that I thought he was somewhere he wasn't."

"So that means he's not really on Duro?"

"Bingo."

"Then where?" Todan said exasperated.

Jyo smiled. "Fortunately, Cordell isn't clever enough to make sure I really took the bait. Once he thought he convinced me, he stopped hiding himself."

"Enough with the suspense already!" Kam said. "So where is he?"

"It's actually quite obvious. He's gone to the grave of his hero."

"You don't mean…" Zeek started.

Jyo nodded, "Myrkyr."

Tay gasped and backed up against a wall of the medical ward. Denz's body had suddenly started to shake violently. _He can't be waking up already! It's only been twenty-eight hours!_ She nervously told herself.

Tay was just about to call for assistance, when Denz just as suddenly became still again. The fright had knocked the wind out of her, and Tay found herself bent over, gasping for air. When she looked up, Tay noticed something different about Denz. More color had suddenly returned to his skin. She moved her gaze up to his face, and almost passed out when she saw him looking back at her.

"Let me out."

The request was muffled due to the breath mask, but it was still clear enough for Tay to hear and understand; but she could not move. She sat there on the floor gaping at what should have been an unconscious Jedi student in a bacta tank.

Denz's brow creased when she did not move. He frowned, and the bacta tank cracked and shattered, causing bacta to spill out and drench tables, chairs, equipment, and Tay. Denz stepped out of the ruined bacta tank, ripping off the breath mask as he did, and throwing on a robe. He stepped over to Tay and asked, "Where are my garments?"

Tay, still on the floor, did not respond. She merely pointed a shaking finger at a drawer. Denz rummaged around in the shredded clothing for a moment, and, without another word, left the medical ward.

Tay could handle no more. She finally gave in to her weak body and fainted. The last thing she remembered seeing was the serious look that seemed to have embedded itself on Denz's face.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Denz exited the hospital dome and began walking quickly back toward his Jome. The dew-covered grass was cold and wet on his bare feet. He was still dripping bacta, and there was a brisk morning breeze. Denz did not notice the cold. Feelings of hatred and betrayal were beginning to overwhelm him. He should have expected his typical, human body to respond this way. Denz quickly blotted out all emotion and focused on his plan.

He reached the Jome five minutes later and went inside. Denz strode past all of the other Jedi students in the lounge. No one noticed him. He had hidden his presence from them. He did not want to be stopped or questioned.

Denz entered his room and encoded the door, not wanting any intrusions. He was pleased to find that his lightsaber was lying on his desk. _That saves me the trouble of having to go into the forest to retrieve it._ Denz seated himself at his desk and began to work.

Cordell had been roaming the streets of Dryknar for several hours now. Other than stopping a few pickpockets and muggers, it had been quite uneventful. He was disappointed that he did not even have an occasion to use his lightsaber. Cordell had needed only his physical strength to take down those thugs.

His brown cloak pulled around his body, and the hood covering his head and hiding his face, he stepped into an alley. Going this way would save him the trouble of going around the stretch of buildings. He was ready to call it a day. It was time to head back to the ship for some shut-eye.

Cordell was almost out of the alley when a tall, cloaked figure stepped out from the shadows, blocking his path. Cordell did not want any more trouble that day, so he tried to place a suggestion in the figure's mind to move aside; but this mind could not be swayed. Cordell stepped back when he saw the only thought on the figure's mind: _Kill Jedi!_

Denz, now dressed in a black T-shirt, the same color pants and a hoodless Jedi robe, stepped out of his room. There was no one in the hallway, so Denz finally stopped hiding himself. He turned and walked down the hallway toward the turbolifts.

The door to the lounge opened and Salah entered the hallway. She glanced at Denz but did not recognize him at first. Salah was about to go into her room when she caught a glimpse of his face. Immediately realizing whom it was, she started running toward him, calling his name. "Denz!"

Denz looked over his shoulder but did not stop walking. When he finally did stop, it was outside of Tahiri's door. He knocked loudly on her door.

"Who is it?" Came the response from inside the room.

"It is Denz."

The reply was angry, "That's not funny! Now go away, whoever you are."

Salah finally caught up to Denz and looked closely at him. "You really are Denz aren't you?"

He gave her a sidelong glance and raised an eyebrow, as if that was a stupid question. Without giving her an answer, Denz turned back to the door and knocked again.

"I told you to go away!"

Denz frowned and placed his hand on the door, which blew into the room and landed with a loud crash. Salah gasped and stepped back. Inside the room, Tahiri and Lowbacca sat at a table holding datapads. Their expressions bore surprise; not only for the destruction of the door, but also for the fact that Denz was standing in Tahiri's doorway.

"Wha … What?"

Lowbacca growled in confusion.

Tahiri tried to rise but found that she could not move.

Denz smiled at this, "How does it feel to be helpless, Tahiri?"

Now Tahiri looked confused and even more surprised. "What are you talking about?"

"While I was in that bacta tank, I could tell almost exactly what was going on. I was helpless to stop Cordell from leaving or keep Jyo, Zeek and Todan from going after him. However, you were out here and had full power and authority to keep them here if you had wanted to. But instead you let them all go, based on the assumption that it was the will of the Force. Well I'm not about to entrust the safety of my friends and family to "the will of the Force". I am going after them. Not because no one else will, but because no one else can. Once I leave the Jome, you will be able to move again. Although I doubt you would come after me anyway." Denz turned and left the room, and Salah followed in stunned silence.

She was still behind him as they went through the lounge. Denz did not bother to hide, and no one noticed him anyway. Once they were outside, Denz kept walking but finally asked Salah why she was following him.

"You're going to need help. I'm coming with you." She replied.

"Trust me, I don't need any help."

"Well! Aren't you sure of yourself! And this coming from someone who just got severely injured by his own cousin a little more than a day ago!"

Denz stopped walking but did not turn around.

Salah regretted saying that, "I – I'm sorry. That came out wrong."

Denz breathed deeply. "Tell me. For what reason do you wish to come with me? Why would you voluntarily put yourself in harm's way?"

"That's what you're doing isn't it?"

"They are my family." Denz said with resolution.

"You know, Zeek asked me the same question you just did right before they left."

"And your response?"

Silence.

"Hmm. I see."

Salah gasped.

"I apologize for picking your brain, but I was intrigued to know why you want to come so badly." Denz said. "I understand now. I will not stop you if you still wish to come along."

Salah nodded, clearly embarrassed.

"Come then. We must hurry to the spaceport and secure a vessel … and perhaps a pilot."

The _Twilight Trekker_ hung in orbit above Myrkyr.

"Well we know what planet he's on, but where on the planet is he?" Zeek asked.

"I don't want to use the Force to find him, because even if we're in orbit, he still has enough time to get to his ship and get away if he senses me." Jyo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "However, if I recall correctly information that I gathered on Myrkyr while still at the Installation, I believe the orbital security is pretty loose on Myrkyr. Most likely, they saw Cordell land but did not care enough to question him. And Jedi Starfighters are rarely seen in the galaxy. So, all we need to do is hack into their surveillance videos for the past, say twenty-four hours, and find out where a Jedi Starfighter set down."

Zeek chuckled, "See? This is why we call you the 'Plan Master'."

Jyo shrugged and nodded at Todan.

Todan glanced at Kam, "Is it alright if I use your onboard computer?"

Kam spread his arms, "Hey! I'm just the chauffer. Y'all have full access to whatever's on my ship."

"Groovy," Todan replied as he sat down in front of the monitor.

After a moment or two of constant keyboard clicking, Todan announced that he had a location, "It's sixty-five degrees latitude and thirty-two degrees longitude. Outside a city called Dryknar."

"Just enter the coordinates into the navicomputer, I'll set the ship on auto pilot." Kam said.

Several minutes later, Kam set the _Twilight Trekker_ down outside of Dryknar. "I scanned the area," Kam said, "and the computer picked up another spacecraft parked about a mile away. It's probably Cordell's ship."

"Nonetheless, we should make sure he is not there before I try to contact him." Jyo replied.

Jyo, Zeek, and Todan exited the _Twilight Trekker_ via the landing ramp followed by Kam, who had slung something large over his shoulder.

Todan noticed it and asked Kam what it was.

"Somethin' I hopefully won't hafta use." Kam replied.

They walked along in silence with Jyo and Zeek in the front clearing a path with their lightsabers; Todan, munching on a ration bar, followed next; and Kam with his heavy load brought up the rear.

Several minutes passed before the tiny group finally came upon the Jedi Starfighter, partially hidden in the underbrush. A quick search revealed that Cordell was not there. "Okay. Assuming he is in Dryknar, I'm going to scan the city and hopefully get a pretty accurate idea of where he is."

Jyo closed his eyes and opened them a second later. "Wow! The reading is really prominent!"

"Why do you say that?" Todan asked.

"Well, it didn't seem like he was trying to hide anymore. Just the opposite, it was like he was trying to call attention to himself."

Jyo closed his eyes again and without opening them began to speak. "Oh, boy."

"What is it?" Zeek wondered.

Jyo slowly opened his eyes and replied, "Cordell is scared and is calling out for help."

Todan swallowed, "That can't be good."

Cordell was too stunned by what he saw to do anything but stare. He was not even aware enough to draw his lightsaber. Before him stood what he classified as "Grade A Gruesomeness".

The cloak that had been covering most of its body was gone now, and what stood before Cordell now was what he thought only could exist in a myth. Had Luke Skywalker been there, or anyone from the Dantooine surveillance team, they would have realized right away that this was a vort; the monstrous hand-to-hand combat weapons created by the Vong.

The vort stood a good three feet taller than Cordell. Its amphistaff arms seemed to look at him as if in anticipation. The vort's beastlike head twitched as it sniffed anxiously at its prey. The vort advanced a step, and Cordell retreated in the same manner. For every step the vort took, Cordell took one or two in response. The vort's primitive mind seemed to enjoy this game of cat and mouse.

Just then, Jyo and the others rounded the corner of a building and saw it, "Cordell!" Jyo called.

"Jyo?!"

"Stay calm Cordell, we'll think of some way to get rid of that thing."

"Hmph! I say we just let the thing kill Cordell and be done with it." Todan grumbled.

Jyo ignored the remark and focused on coming up with a plan.

Kam grunted from behind them as he set down his large shoulder bag. He unzipped it and pulled out a laser canon. "My aim isn't perfect with this thing, so I should probably try to shoot it in the front or back. Don't wanna take a chance on missin' when it's standin' sideways."

Jyo nodded, "Cordell! Did you hear that?"

Cordell seemed to have finally come to his senses, "Forget it, Jyo! I can take this thing down myself." As he said this, Cordell pulled out his lightsaber and ignited it.

"Cordell! NO!"

Denz and Salah approached the man in charge of resources and personnel for the spaceport. The middle-aged man with graying hair frowned at the two kids that stood before him. "What do you two want?"

Denz dismissed the man's brashness and politely asked about a young Jedi that was to be a pilot.

"Oh," the man said, "you must mean that Krison Glynt kid. He is in hangar thirty-eight. Or at least he will be when he finishes his run."

Denz thanked the man, and he and Salah made their way to hangar thirty-eight.

Salah studied Denz discreetly as they walked. Something was different about him, but she could not place exactly what. His early awakening could have had something to do with it, but it seemed like it was more than that, almost as if he was emitting the Force in a different way than before.

Denz noticed her quick glances and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Salah shook her head as if to say it was nothing.

They reached hangar thirty-eight and found it empty. "I guess we wait until this Krison guy gets back, huh?" Salah asked.

Denz did not answer the obvious question. Instead he walked to one side of the hanger and found a terminal. _Perfect. This terminal has all the navicomputer information I need._

Salah had sat down in a chair to wait while Denz had gone over and done something on a computer terminal. When he finished and came over to stand beside her chair, she asked him about it.

He smiled for the first time since he had left the bacta tank and said, "That's for me to know, and you to find out."

Salah stuck out her lower lip and faked pouting. Silently though, she was glad he still had a sense of humor.

An alarm blared in the hangar, signaling an incoming ship. A moment later, a new-model X-Wing cruised into the hangar. After it set down and shut down, the hatch popped and a kid about Denz's age climbed out and dropped to the floor.

Salah glanced at Denz as she rose from her chair and was startled to see his eyes closed, brow creased, and a deep frown etched in his face. When he opened his eyes a second later, his whole demeanor had changed. Denz dashed over to Krison followed closely by Salah.

"Hey! Who are you guys?" Krison asked. Then he recognized Denz, "Wait a minute! Aren't you…?"

"No time to explain," Denz said quickly. "Do you have access to a larger ship?"

"Well, sure but…"

"I'll tell you all about it on the way. We need to go now!"

"Go where?"

"I'll tell you later!"

As they followed Krison to another hangar, Denz's thoughts drifted back to what he had just felt. _They are all together now, but something has them all shaking in their boots. That something has one purpose: to kill Jedi._


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Cordell swung his acid yellow blade at the vort, which easily blocked the attack with one of its amphistaff arms. Cordell was not discouraged, however. After several failed attempts to cause the vort harm, Cordell began to get a strange look in his eyes. The same look he had right before he impaled Denz on his lightsaber. Cordell's attacks became more fierce and unpredictable. The vort, as hideous and frightening as it was, appeared to be unnerved by the intensity of Cordell's attack.

Cordell dodged several jabs from the vort's amphistaff arms and then dashed beneath its guard, getting behind it. The vort was a lot quicker that Cordell had anticipated. Before he could attack it from behind, the vort vaulted into the air with its powerful legs. It spun one hundred and eighty degrees in mid air and landed facing Cordell – about twenty feet away.

The vort made a sort of growl-hiss as if agitated. It had not expected its food to be so difficult to kill. It took a step toward Cordell but suddenly changed its mind. Something convinced the vort that there was easier prey to its right. When it turned, it saw not one but three Jedi, as well as a large man aiming something big at it.

"Do it now!" Jyo told Kam.

"Roger!" Kam replied and pulled the trigger.

A large blast shot from the laser canon and hit the vort, square in the chest. It did not penetrate, and it did not seem like it did much damage, but the blast did knock the vort back about thirty feet. Long marks in the dirt were evident from where the vort had dug in its clawed feet to try and stop its slide.

"Shoot it again! Quick!" Zeek instructed.

Kam let loose again and delivered another direct hit. This time the vort was lifted off of its feet as it flew backward into a building at about fifty miles per hour. Before the vort could even fall to the ground from where it had hit, Kam fired the laser canon once more. The blast struck the base of the building, causing it too collapse, burying the vort.

"Nice shot, Kam!" Zeek extolled.

Kam grinned with satisfaction. "Do you know how long I've wanted to use this baby? I must have had it stashed aboard my ship for at least a couple years!"

Jyo, Zeek and Todan chuckled at this.

Jyo glanced toward Cordell and saw him running full tilt in their direction – with his lightsaber still lit. Jyo realized where Cordell was looking, "NO, CORDELL DON'T!"

Too fast for Kam to react, Cordell ran past him, swinging his lightsaber once as he went by.

Kam fell to the ground, his right arm gone, severed at the shoulder. The big man yelled in agony before passing out.

"Idiot." Cordell said without turning around. "He should not have interfered with my fight." Behind him he heard the sound of three lightsabers igniting.

Krison Glynt led Denz and Salah to a slightly larger hangar where an SWS Battleboat was docked.

"Do we really need a ship with so many weapons?" Salah asked.

"No, but this will do just fine," Denz answered as he followed Krison up the boarding ramp.

The three Jedi students were soon strapped in inside the cockpit.

"Where…" Krison started to ask.

"Get us to orbit first, and do it quick!" Denz interrupted.

"But I need clearance…"

"Are you a good pilot?" Denz cut in again.

"Well, yeah."

"Then you should be able to get us to orbit safely without clearance, right?"

Krison did not answer. Instead, he fired up the main engines and soared out of the hangar. He switched off the radio so warnings from Air Traffic Control would not distract him.

Once safely in orbit, Denz told Krison their destination and how soon they needed to get there.

"WHAT! FIFTEEN MINUTES! That's impossible!" Krison said in disbelief.

"Is it, Krison?"

"What do you mean?"

"I just happen to know that you have been studying the current hyperspace lanes, trying to find shortcuts and more direct routes."

"So?"

"You found some, did you not?" Denz pried.

"Yes, but they only exist in theory…"

"Are you scared, Krison?"

"Of what?"

"Of being wrong."

"No, I…"

"Don't you want to feel the satisfaction of doing something that no one else has dared to do?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"No 'buts'. Now show me what you got."

Krison sighed in defeat and pulled up a holographic space chart. "It is actually possible to get from here to Myrkyr in under ten minutes. I'm sure you know that all of the current hyperspace lanes are straight lines, but I've discovered a way, in theory, to make a turn while in hyperspace. I would not try this in an old or dilapidated ship, but this Battleboat should work. Pretty much all hyperdrives have a fail-safe that brings a ship out of hyperspace if it encounters a gravatic anomaly, such as a planet. First, we would need to disable that device."

Denz raised his hand to ask a question. "Exactly where on the hyperdrive is this fail-safe?"

"In the right, rear area. Why?"

"Oh, I just figured I'd help out a little."

Krison's face bore a questioning look as the ship's console beeped. When he checked to see what the problem was, he began to stutter, "You – how?"

"Beg pardon?" Salah asked impatiently.

Krison looked at Denz incredulously. "The system analysis shows that the hyperdrive fail-safe has been taken offline."

Denz shrugged, "Disconnect a few wires, loosen a few screws, nothing major. It's easily repaired."

Krison shook his head in disbelief, and Salah just stared. "Anyway," he continued. "According to my theory, if we stay in hyperspace and fly close enough to a planet so that its gravity grabs us, we could use it to swing around the planet."

"Kind of like a grappling hook," Salah mused.

"Exactly! All I have to do is program into the ship's navicomputer where to break free of the gravity and off we go again."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Program the computer, and let's see if we can beat that estimated ten minutes." Denz said.

Cordell turned around and found himself face to face with three angry young Jedi. He chuckled, "Finally, a real challenge."

"What's wrong with you?" Jyo yelled angrily.

"This is not a game," Zeek growled as he rushed at Cordell. Zeek grunted as he swung with the same kind of Force enhanced attack he had used on Jyo.

Cordell blocked the attack with one hand, and slid backward about an inch.

"What!!!" Zeek gasped.

Cordell laughed, "Is that the best you can do?" He then grabbed Zeek by the neck with his free hand and tossed him to the side.

Zeek thought to deactivate his lightsaber before he landed several feet away. He grunted as he bounced and rolled to a stop. Zeek lay there motionless, but pulled himself up to his knees after a moment.

When Jyo was sure that Zeek was not severely injured, he suggested a different tactic. "Let's get on either side of Cordell and take him together, but do not kill him. Just disable or make him drop his weapon."

"I'll stick to those rules for now," Todan agreed. "But if worse comes to worse, just know that I won't hesitate to kill him."

Cordell found this amusing as well. "You talk as though you actually have a chance."

"You should really learn to count. There's two of us and only one of you." Jyo pointed out.

"Oh, I count two alright … two Jedi jokes!" Cordell replied.

The Battleboat had just made its turn around the planet Obroa-Skai and was now only seconds away from Myrkyr. The sensation had been almost nauseating as they swung around Obroa-Skai. Even with the inertial compensators all the way up, the pull from the planet and the speed of the ship was overpowering.

The _Gut Buster_, which was the name Krison had decided on, dropped out of hyperspace right on target. Best of all, the trip had only taken five minutes!

"Quick!" Denz said. "Go a quarter of the way around the planet and land as close as you can to a city called Dryknar."

"How do you know this stuff?" Salah asked.

But Krison had decided not to question Denz, and instead followed his directions. He located the city on his onboard map of Myrkyr, and landed just outside of Dryknar two minutes later.

"Oh," Denz said. "Congratulations. Your theory is now fact."

Krison smiled as he followed Denz and Salah down the landing ramp.

"Actually, Krison, I'd advise you to stay here. Someone is going to have to pilot everyone home. We can't afford to lose you, and the danger level is too high to risk it." Denz said.

"So what am I supposed to do? Wait here wondering if you guys are alive or dead?" Krison appeared upset.

Denz looked Krison in the eyes and said, "You don't want to come with us. You want to stay here and find something on board that will hold a Jedi."

Krison smiled, "Don't worry, Denz. I'll stay here and search the ship from front to back for something to hold a Jedi." Krison waved as he ran back in the ship.

"Did you have to use a mind trick on him?" Salah asked.

Denz nodded as they made their way into the city, "It was the quickest solution at the time."

"And what was all that about 'holding a Jedi'?"

"How else are we going to get Cordell to behave when we take him back to Jedron?"

"Speaking of Cordell," Salah said. "Are you sure you're ready to face him so soon after – you know?"

Denz did not answer. His thoughts drifted to the lightsaber clipped to his right arm. _What if it's not enough? Will I have to? _Denz self-consciously touched his left arm and shook his head. _I can only hope that that will not be necessary._


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Jyo stood about eight feet on one side of Cordell, and Todan glared at the demented student on the opposite side. Cordell chuckled, "Jyo, Jyo, Jyo. You're really losing your touch. You say 'let's attack him together', and then you separate yourselves on either side of me. I'm really disappointed."

Cordell made his move as soon as he finished speaking. He sprinted to his right and covered the distance between him and Todan in seconds. Todan was not taken by surprise; however, and the older student raised his defense in time to parry a quick and deadly slash at his neck.

Cordell did not hesitate and followed up on the attack. Todan calmly and skillfully held his defense. It almost seemed like a reenactment of Denz and Cordell's duel. Except this one ended differently. Cordell was so engrossed with trying to get through Todan's defenses, that he did not realize Jyo had snuck up behind him. With his deactivated lightsaber, Jyo whacked Cordell on the back of his neck. Cordell grunted as he fell to the ground and landed on his back, still holding his ignited lightsaber.

_Losing my touch, am I? _Jyo thought._ I knew what you would do almost before you did._

"Good plan." Todan said. "Now grab his lightsaber."

Jyo nodded and reached for the weapon. He pulled away as soon as he felt it. Cordell suddenly sprang up, kicking Todan in the face as he did, and as he landed, brought his lightsaber down in an overhead attack at Jyo.

Todan flailed as he flew backward from the blow, and Jyo barely had enough time to get his lavender lightsaber up to block the second part of Cordell's two-pronged counterattack. The blow carried too much force for Jyo to handle; however, and as a result, he fell to the ground. Their blades still locked, Cordell stood over Jyo with a smile of anticipation as he slowly used his leverage to push Jyo's lightsaber toward him.

_Arrgh!_ Jyo thought. _If I deactivate my lightsaber, his will cut my head in half. But if I continue to block him, I'll eventually impale myself on my own lightsaber! There's got to be a way out of this!_

"We're almost there." Denz said as they ran through a dark alley. "Just a few more turns and …" Denz stopped mid-sentence and skidded to a halt, and Salah ran into his back.

"Wh – Why'd you stop?" Salah demanded.

Denz put a finger to his lips. "There is something blocking our path," he whispered.

"What?" Salah inquired as she peered into the darkness.

"We must get to the others as quickly as possible. We can't waste time here." Denz said instead of answering.

"But …"

"Wait here." Denz told Salah.

"I'll wait here." Salah replied.

Denz nodded and walked determinedly into the darkness.

He disappeared from sight as Salah shook her head to clear it. She knew he had just used a mind trick on her, but didn't dare go after him. Suddenly she saw a flash of light and a spark as two things that would not cut each other collided. The blade of light moved again and there was another spark. Then the tempo increased and the light moved faster. _Is that another lightsaber?_ Salah asked herself. She closed her eyes and shook her head again, but when she opened her eyes, it was over.

Denz called out from the darkness, "Let's go!"

Salah followed his voice to him, and before they started to run again, she caught a glimpse of the outline of a large and gruesome creature with what looked like snakes for arms. "What was it?" She asked.

"Something I hope we don't encounter more of." Denz replied.

Salah knew Denz tried to hide it, but she still picked up on the worried sound in his voice, and she did not think it had to do with running into more creatures.

Jyo's lightsaber was now only an inch from his face. All he could see through his goggles was the light from the two locked blades, and all he could hear was their hum. Jyo closed his eyes and admitted to himself that it was over. No matter how hard he tried, he could not overpower Cordell or think of a way break free.

Jyo felt and heard his goggles break as they came in contact with his lightsaber. Then there was nothing. The pressure was gone. Jyo thought he had died, but he still felt his arms aching from the struggle. He slowly sat up and saw, though blurry, Cordell stumble away holding his side. Jyo vaguely saw something hit Cordell's chest, as he was knocked farther away. Jyo turned and looked in the direction opposite of Cordell. "Is that Zeek?" Jyo asked himself.

Sure enough, in the exact same spot he had fallen, Zeek was kneeling on the ground with a hurricane of rocks spinning around him. He launched another piece of debris that he had gathered from the collapsed building.

Cordell got his bearings and was able to dodge the next piece of duracreet. Jyo was still recovering from the near death experience, and Todan lay off to the side clutching his face where Cordell had kicked it. Zeek did his best to keep Cordell busy with a hailstorm of duracreet, but Cordell thought of the attack as nothing more than a nuisance as he dodged small pieces and sliced larger ones with his lightsaber. Cordell was trying to get to Zeek but found it more difficult than he expected.

Zeek's attack, while not doing Cordell much harm, was keeping him back. Cordell finally gave up trying to battle the storm of duracreet. He held his ground long enough to pull something small and round out of his robe. Cordell threw it as hard as he could in Zeek's direction. Zeek saw it as it landed several feet from him, and he knew there was no time to get away. With what debris he had left, Zeek formed a crude wall between him and the object.

The thermal detonator exploded, and the force of the blast hit the makeshift wall hard, knocking it over. The aftershock also knocked Zeek a dozen feet backward into a building. Zeek slumped against the building and was still.

Jyo, half blind, abandoned his rational nature, jumped to his feet, and rushed Cordell. Cordell, not even phased by almost blowing Zeek to bits, engaged Jyo. Cordell knew that Jyo could hardly see, so he moved around a lot so Jyo could not get a lock on his position. Jyo tried to use the Force to keep track of Cordell's movements, but he had not trained nearly enough in this way. Cordell took advantage of Jyo's disadvantage and dispatched him easily with a solid punch to the gut.

Jyo fell to his knees gasping for breath. Cordell held the end of his lightsaber up to Jyo's forehead. "I could kill you." Cordell said with a smirk. "But because you're family, I'll give you a break this time."

Cordell lowered his lightsaber and struck Jyo on the side of his head with a spinning kick. "When you wake up, you will be the only one alive." Cordell told the unconscious Jyo.

Cordell turned and began to walk in Zeek's direction.

"CORDELL!!!"

Cordell stopped and turned around to see Todan standing with his lightsaber raised and pointing at him. His left eye was closed, a line of blood traced from his eyebrow to beneath his eye from when Cordell had kicked him.

"Now there is no one to stop me from finishing you off." Todan said angrily.

Cordell laughed loudly. "And here I am thinking all this time I was kicking your sorry but."

Todan wiped blood from his lip and grinned, "I wasn't even trying."

Denz knew they were close. He turned to Salah as they ran. "Promise me something."

Salah did not turn as she asked, "What?"

"Promise me that you won't kill Cordell. I don't think he is to blame for his actions."

"You mean something or someone is controlling him?"

Denz shook his head. "I'm not certain. So, do you promise?"

Salah nodded as they rounded the final corner. Salah kept going, but Denz stopped in his tracks and soaked up what he saw. Kam lay on his back and was missing an arm; Zeek looked like he had been thrown against the building he slumped against; Jyo was face down in the sand and dirt with no wounds Denz could see; and Todan was engaged in a duel with Cordell.

Feelings of hate and revenge boiled to the surface of Denz's being, and he fought to keep them from becoming actions. Denz vaguely saw Salah join Todan as they began attacking Cordell together. Denz slipped out of sight and found that he was breathing heavily. His hands itched to hold a lightsaber and to use it against Cordell. Denz shook his head to clear it, and realized that he could not face Cordell yet. He determined that he would not face him until he was sure that he was ready. Quickly and quietly Denz disappeared into the darkness.

Todan locked lightsabers with Cordell and was slowly being pushed back by the younger Jedi's greater strength. Todan suddenly stopped moving and realized that someone else was helping him stop the attack. He glanced to his left and saw … SALAH?!"

"What are you doing here? And for that matter, _how _did you get here?" Todan asked as he struggled to push Cordell back.

"Denz brought me, and I'm here to help." She answered.

With Salah's help, Todan broke the saber lock; the two went on the offensive. Cordell could barely defend against them. He may have had the power to overcome a single opponent, but he lacked the skill to take on more than one.

Cordell tried to isolate one or the other, but could not keep the two apart. Salah and Todan made a good team. Salah's smooth, quick attacks kept Cordell on his toes, and Todan's defense did not let anything through. Cordell actually seemed to be getting tired, and with Salah still fresh from the sidelines, even Cordell realized he was fighting a losing battle.

Cordell finally gave in and tried to make a run for it, but Todan was too quick. He tripped Cordell as he turned, and Cordell fell face down in the dirt. He quickly rolled to the side to avoid a downward thrust by Todan.

"Wait!" Salah said. "Don't kill him!"

Todan gave her a confused look. "Why not?!"

"I made a promise."

Todan growled in frustration and stomped his boot down on Cordell's right wrist. "Can I at least break his wrist like he did to Denz?"

Salah smiled. "I didn't say I promised not to hurt him, now did I?"

Todan grinned as he heard the bones crack beneath his boot, and Cordell finally released his lightsaber. Salah picked it up and said, "You won't be using this for a while." She turned to Todan and handed him something. "Restrain his arms and legs with these. They are stun cuffs. If he struggles, he will receive a powerful shock."

Todan nodded and cuffed Cordell. He did not put up a fight or move much at all for that matter.

"Go get Zeek and bring him over here." Salah told Todan.

As Todan went for Zeek, Salah knelt next to Jyo and turned him over onto his back. She fought tears when she saw his face. His jaw had definitely been broken and the entire left side of his face looked like it had caved in. The logical part of Salah told her that she had no training, but she could not stop blaming herself for not bringing medical supplies.

Todan finally returned with a conscious Zeek. "What took you so long?" Salah asked.

"My right leg is broken," Zeek answered for Todan. "He set it for me."

"Wait a minute! Where did the stuff to make a splint come from?"

Zeek pointed to where a large man sat wrapping his right shoulder in gauze. Salah had never even realized that he was there. "Who's that?" She asked.

"That's Kam. He's the pilot that flew us here."

"Go see if there is something like a neck brace in whatever he brought." Salah told Todan.

"What happened to you guys?" A voice asked quietly.

Salah looked to see who had asked such a question and was shocked to find that it was Cordell. "What's that supposed to mean?" She shot back hotly.

"Exactly like it sounds," he replied with a shrug as he looked around and saw the destroyed building and a couple of badly injured people. "What happened here?"

"YOU HAPPENED!!!"

"What're you talking about?"

"You're a monster, Cordell!"

"Me? I couldn't have done this!"

Suddenly, Salah realized it. Denz had been right. Something had been controlling Cordell, and he didn't remember a thing.


	21. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Todan helped Zeek into the _Gut Buster_ and Kam followed.

"Hey," he said to Krison. "Did you find her?"

The young pilot nodded and looked at his datapad. "She's in the hold. A TransAmp 1800. Registration number: T5973N4311086?"

Kam smiled, "That's her, alright. And you can just call her the _Twilight Trekker._"

Jyo was awake now, but unable to talk. Most of his face had been bandaged, and he lay very still in the bed of a small medical room on board. Salah made sure that he was as comfortable as possible before heading up front and preparing to leave for home. As she joined the others in the cockpit, she asked, "Where's Cordell?"

"We left him in restraints and put him in room 3A." Todan answered, an eye patch covering his left eye.

"I still find it strange that he doesn't recall any of what he did." Salah mused.

"Can we think about that after we get home?" Todan complained rubbing his head. "I've got the worst headache."

Zeek shook his head and said, "I just remembered something. What about the Jedi Starfighter Cordell used to get here? Shouldn't we take that back with us too? If there's room in the hold for it that is."

Krison nodded. "There's more than enough left for a little starfighter. I'll scan the outskirts for its location."

After several second, Krison spoke again. "That's funny."

"Then how come I'm not laughing?" Todan said from the acceleration couch.

"TODAN!!!"

"What?!"

Krison ignored him and said that he could not find the Jedi Starfighter anywhere. "It is possible that someone stole it."

"I know who took it."

Everyone looked at Salah. "Who?" They asked in unison.

"It was Denz."


End file.
